Smugglers
by Gage39
Summary: AU. Optimus Ratchet & Prowl are washed-up Elite Guard sent to catch smugglers.  They find one named Bulkhead only to be captured by Decepticons and saved by an insane Bumblebee.  Will Optimus help the smugglers take down the Decepticons or turn them in?
1. Prologue: Decepticons

Smugglers

Prologue

At the opposite end of the galaxy from Cybertron, not too far from the triple planetoids; Alpha, Beta, and Delta but still a good ways off from the Milky Way which contained nine planets (including the one called Earth) revolving around a single sun, there was a planet called Kaon, so named after the capitol city of the Decepticons. On this planet were some of the surviving Decepticons; namely, Starscream (who had proclaimed himself leader after Megatron's untimely death), Slipstream, Skywarp, Blitzwing and Oil Slick. There were other Decepticons of course but none of them were as important as Megatron's former top lieutenants. (At least that's what they liked to tell themselves.)

"I vant energon goodies," Blitzwing announced calmly and quite suddenly one day for particular reason. This surprised no one for they were all used to him saying and doing random things but what did surprise them was that it hadn't been his random personality who had spouted the random line but his most rational personality, Icy.

The others all stopped what they were doing and turned from their various positions at the table they were all standing around to stare at him with wide open jaws and optics. Starscream was the first to break the silence. "What?" he demanded dumbfounded. "We're in the middle of planning an attack on the Autobots and all you can think of is energon goodies?" his already screechy voice went up two decibels causing the other three to wince, the loud voice not hurting Skywarp's audio sensors as he had warped away a few minutes earlier after Blitzwing's initial statement.

"But I vant them," Blitzwing protested.

Slipstream groaned and covered half of her faceplate with a servo, effectively blocking out the sight of her creator's face as it grew angry. She wished that she had the ability to warp like her fellow clone so that she could disappear and go somewhere far away from this madness. Anywhere else would be much more preferable than here.

Starscream ignored the obviously insane triple-changer and continued outlining his brilliant, diabolical plan.

"Here," he tapped a spot on the map that was spread out on the table in front of him.

"That's the Bassan Galaxy," Oil Slick growled.

"No one uses that galaxy except for smugglers," Skywarp announced, startling no one by his sudden re-appearance.

"Exactly," Starscream exclaimed triumphantly. "And who goes after smugglers?"

There was a collective gasp in the room as his words registered and all the pieces fell into place with a click.

"The Elite Guard," Slipstream murmured and looked at her creator with a newfound respect in her red optics.

"Yes," Starscream's smile was not a very nice one. "We wait until they capture a couple of smugglers; their guard will be down and then we'll attack. Hopefully their ship will survive intact with at least one of them still online."

"Why do we have to keep one of them online?" Skywarp asked in a bored tone.

Starscream exhaled slowly and replied, "Because we're going to fly the ship to the Autobot capitol and destroy it but if they read just our energy signatures they'll suspect something but if they also pick up a couple of Autobot signatures too they'll just assume that we're prisoners and by the time they figure out the truth it'll be too late."

Stunned silence filled the room then cries of "Brilliant!" resonated throughout the room causing the vain flier to bow and smile. Nothing could ruin his moment of glory. Absolutely nothing. "I still vant some energon goodies." Well, almost nothing.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short but it is the prologue. The next chapter will be longer-I promise.

A/N/N: 3 reviews per chapter and one chapter per day.


	2. Introductions

Smugglers

Chapter 1: Introductions

Optimus Prime stormed out the Elite Guard building, his blue optics nearly red with anger. Bots scurried out his way when they saw his expression, quickly clearing a path for him all the way to his ship, Omega Supreme.

Prowl, a spy-bot who also happened to be a ninja, spotted Optimus first and quickly used his ninja stealth to disappear into the bowels of the ship where he couldn't be found. His processor quickly ran over the contents of his room where he had enough energon stashed to last him for a few days if necessary. Not that he was hiding or anything like that but he thought it prudent to stay out his irate leader's way until he had calmed down.

Ratchet knew something was up the instant he saw Prowl disappear into the rafters of the ship. His suspicions were confirmed when, less than a minute later, a very irate Optimus Prime strode in, the fury on his face could have only been caused by one Autobot: Sentinel Prime.

Ratchet sighed and made a mental note to re-calibrate Prowl's thrusters so they wouldn't work properly the next time that coward ninja bot came in for a check-up.

"So what'd that slaggin' glitch-head have to say this time?" Ratchet was curious but only mildly so. After all it had to be pretty bad if it got Optimus so riled up, he was the most mild-mannered bot Ratchet had ever met; excluding a certain pink-and-white femme named Arcee. He shook his head, now was not the time to be thinking of painful memories.

Optimus was silent then let out a loud roar of anger and punched the wall so hard he left behind a nice-sized dent.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "That bad huh?"

"I have two words for you," Optimus growled. "Bassan Galaxy."

A pained looked crossed Ratchet's faceplate and a groan emitted from the ceiling before Prowl dropped down and landed gracefully on his pedes.

"The Bassan Galaxy?" the ninja moaned. "That means smugglers."

"We're Elite Guard, not bounty hunters," Ratchet huffed.

Optimus sighed. "That's what I said but apparently the smuggling problem is getting out of hand and we're the only ones he can spare."

"You mean we're the only ones he can afford to lose," Prowl stated dryly.

"Exactly," Optimus sighed, finally looking and sounder much calmer.

"Well when do we leave?" Ratchet did his best to look excited but failed miserably.

"Tomorrow," Optimus informed them. He didn't have to wait long for his companions reactions. Ratchet swore and formed a new dent alongside Prime's, Prowl disappeared in the rafters and reappeared with three cubes of high-grade and passed them out; Optimus and Ratchet eagerly accepting.

* * *

><p>In the Delphi Galaxy all was quiet. A long ship was currently passing through, undetected. Well, not really undetected more like 'allowed to slip through in exchange for some much wanted and outlawed items'. At the helm of the slightly-larger-than-normal smuggling ship was a large green bot named Bulkhead. His servos were shaking as he slowly steered the ship towards the outer rim of the Delphi Galaxy.<p>

He didn't fully relax until they had cleared the Galaxy and only then did he let out a shaky breath. He turned on the autopilot function and moved towards the door. He walked through the hallways and was so focused on peeking behind doors and peering into ventilation shafts that he didn't see the blue optics hidden high in the rafters following his every move. The figure twitched in anticipation as Bulkhead frowned worriedly and headed for the end of the hallway where a seemingly innocent looking black door was.

Bulkhead swallowed nervously, his right servo shaking as it hovered over the keypad. The figure's optics widened and immediately he tightened his leg muscles and leaped…Bulkhead shrieked when the mysterious figure landed on him then relaxed when he recognized the little yellow missile.

"Did I scare you, Bulky?" the smaller bot asked excitedly, his words running together.

Bulkhead blinked, his processor working overtime to decipher his friend's speech. "Yeah ya did, Bee," Bulkhead easily picked Bumblebee up with one servo and placed him on his shoulder strut.

Bee squeaked happily and rested his head against Bulkhead's. The larger mech ran a digit down Bee's back elicting a purring sound from Bee who gladly leaned into it.

"Don't scare me like that again," Bulkhead chided, trying to sound stern and succeeding even as he removed his digit.

"Sorry," Bee whimpered and hid his faceplate in the crook between Bulkhead's neck and shoulder struts.

Bulkhead immediately felt bad. "It's okay," he whispered soothingly as he resumed stroking Bee's back. He continued to do so until he heard the slight rumbling of Bee's engine which signaled that the little bot had curled up into a ball and fallen into recharge.

Bulkhead smiled and walked back to the control room, being careful not to dislodge his little buddy. It wouldn't be good if Bee fell off of his shoulder; the mini-bot might hurt himself. Bulkhead raised a servo and placed it on his shoulder, forming a protective shelter over Bumblebee. He re-entered the control room and went straight to the helm. Best to keep an optic out just in case there were any honest mechs patrolling the borders.

* * *

><p>Optimus yawned and blinked several times in a valiant effort to keep his optics online. He was exhausted; they had been in space for two days and still had another five to go. He entered the rec room and poured himself some energon, studiously ignoring Prowl who had been in the corner practicing his ninja for the past two days while Ratchet had sequestered himself in med-bay and was refusing to come out unless it was life or death and if he was disturbed then he was going to kill the mech who had disturbed him. Optimus had decided to leave the medic alone. It was more beneficial to his health if he did so.<p>

He sat down at a table and yawned again. Primus, was it ever tiring to run a ship by one's self, especially one the size of Omega Supreme.

"Why don't you go into recharge?" Prowl suggested as he sat down in the chair across from Optimus.

"Because we still have five days until we reach the Bassan Galaxy and one of us has to make sure we don't set off any intergalactic battles. We're almost to the planet Metallica and they're not too fond of the Elite Guard and they'll use any excuse to throw us in jail," Optimus yawned, louder and longer this time.

Prowl chuckled, "If we run into any trouble I promise to wake you up, ok?" he helped the un-protesting bot to his pedes.

"Ok," Optimus stumbled as he walked out of the rec room and towards his quarters.

Prowl watched him go then he headed towards the control room. He would make sure it didn't look like they were going to hit anything then he was going to recharge as well.

* * *

><p>It was the sound of whimpering that first alerted Bulkhead to the fact that his friend was waking up. He remained perfectly still until he heard, rather than felt, Bumblebee stretching then let out a loud yawn. Bulkhead held out his servo and waited while the little bot climbed down his massive arm and sat cross-legged in the middle of his servo, blinking owlishly at him.<p>

Bulkhead smiled gently at his friend and said in his booming, yet gentle voice, "Did you have a good nap, Bee?"

The yellow bot yawned in reply and nodded.

"Good," with his left servo Bulkhead typed in a series of commands then rose. "Want some energon?" he asked.

B nodded eagerly and clutched one of Bulkhead's digits with his much smaller servo as the green mech slowly walked towards the kitchen area which was nothing more than two recharge chambers which had been converted into a rec room with three berths along one wall. Bulkhead crossed the room and retrieved two energon cubes from the dispenser then sat down on a berth, handing one of the cubes to Bumblebee who eagerly took it and downed it greedily.

Once the energon was gone Bumblebee hopped out of Bulkhead's servo and landed on the floor on all fours then straightened and began to zoom around the room. Bulkhead watched as he finished his own energon, preferring to savor every drop. These particular energon cubes were specially processed to make a bot tired and fall into recharge quicker. It certainly worked on Bee because by the time Bulkhead was through the mini-bot had worn himself out again and lay in the middle of the floor, curled up in a ball.

A soft smile appeared on Bulkhead's faceplate as he stared down then he bent down very gently scooped him up then dimmed the lights just enough for himself to fall into recharge as Bee didn't like to recharge in the dark; it scared him. Bulkhead yawned and laid back down on the berth he had just vacated, placing Bee on his stomach. The large green mech yawned again and off-lined his optics, quickly joining his little buddy in the world of recharge while the ship grew closer and closer to the Bassan Galaxy.

A/N: 3 reviews please.

A/N/N: There should be more activity in the next chapter…I think.

A/N/N/N: Chapter 2 might be a little bit delayed in getting posted due to a car accident I had this after noon (I'm allright) and I will be out of town tomorrow but it will get posted sometime tomorrow but it should be a little later than normal.


	3. Rude Awakenings

Smugglers

Chapter 2: Rude Awakenings

Morning came quickly; far too quickly in Starscream's opinion. When his internal alarm sounded the flier cracked an optic open. Seeing only Blitzwing lying next to him in peaceful recharge Starscream closed his optic only for both to fly open in alarm mere seconds later.

"Blitzwing!" he shrieked and kicked his fellow flier off the berth and onto the floor.

There was a crash followed by three yelps then Icy's faceplate appeared. "Vhat did you do that for?"

"Why were you even in my berth?" Starscream demanded, propping himself up on one elbor.

"Ve vere lonely and ve couldn't find Skywarp."

"Slipstream?"

"She threatened to tear off our vings if ve did not leave her alone."

"Oil Slick?"

Blitzwing just looked at him and Starscream sighed. "What was I thinking?" he muttered.

"I don't know," Blitzwing replied.

Starscream glowered at the tripe-changer, waiting for him to burst out laughing but to the purple jet's horror his companion seemed quite serious. Before Starscream could shoot Blitzwing in the vocal processor Skywarp appeared, landing on Starscream's chassis, who reacted by shoving him off as well. Skywarp didn't land on the floor but merely warped to the end of the bed.

"Why are you here?" Starscream directed one of his most menacing glares at the clone.

"I got scared so I went to see Slipstream but she threatened to off-line me and Blitzwing wasn't in his room…oh hello, Blitzwing."

"Hello," Blitzwing said from his position on the floor.

Starscream ignored him and continued glaring at his clone. "So you just decided that you would come sleep with me?" his voice was deceptively calm.

Skywarp nodded. "Well yeah, I mean," his creator's face was nearly black with rage causing Skywarp to scramble backwards landing on the floor with a loud thump. "I…" the poor clone was stuttering so much that Starscream gave up on giving a coherent answer out of him and stopped glaring.

It was about then that Starscream realized that his internal chronometer was off and that it was still the middle of the night. Thereforre he decided to ignore the two idiots in his room and fell back into recharge only to be re-awakened almost immediately by the feel of a warm body pressed next to him. His faceplate contorted into a snarl and he un-shuttered his optics resolving to shoot Blitzwing only to see Slipstream lying there.  
>"What are you doing here?" Starscream shrieked.<p>

"The others wouldn't leave me along," she muttered sleepily.

"Is there a sign on the door that says 'Come In'?" the flier raged but received no answer as the others were all sleeping soundly. "I give up," Starscream grumbled. His last thought before finally drifting into recharge was, _I can't wait until we reach the Bassan Galaxy._

* * *

><p>The first thing that greeted Bulkhead's optics when he came out of recharge was the sight of Bee's faceplate pressed extremely close to his.<p>

"Morning Bee," he grunted, not much of a morning bot.

"Good morning," Bee said cheerfully. A little too cheerfully. Bulkhead eyed the little bot suspiciously, Bee didn't usually get this cheerful until after morning energon unless…

"Bee," Bulkhead said calmly though he felt anything but. "Did you have some of that energon in the cabinet marked 'Do Not Touch'?"

"Yep," Bee nodded eagerly, his entire frame reverberating.

Bulkhead groaned internally. Not long after he and Bee had started traveling together after…well Bee had gotten into some lime green energon. Bulkhead hadn't thought much of it at the time but approximately two minutes later the little bot had tensed and then exploded. Not literally of course but Bulkhead had spent the better part of five hours chasing his friend all over the ship before Bee had finally crashed and slept the rest of the day away in Bulkhead's arms.

"Now Bee," Bulkhead spoke slowly. "What'd I say about that cabinet?"

The mini-bot sat back on his haunches and stared down at his servos for several minutes before finally speaking. "Not to open it unless you gave me permission," he mumbled then perked up as if he had thought of something. "But I had a really bad dream so I woke up early and I couldn't go back to sleep…" Bee's voice drifted and slowly died as he obstinately stared at Bulkhead's broad chassis.

"Wanna tell me about it?" Bulkhead offered as he moved to a sitting position so that Bee was sitting on his lap.

Bee was quiet as he curled into Bulkhead's midsection then he said, "I was on a ship, I don't remember the name, but it was an Autobot vessel and there was some bot, he was really big. I don't remember his name either but he was dead; I'm pretty sure that I killed him but I don't remember why and it was so messy and…" Bee was shaking so hard that Bulkhead feared for his framed and hugged the little bot closer to him, running a digit down his back in an attempt to comfort him.

"It's okay, Bee," Bulkhead soothed. "Everything's gonna be all right."

The two friends remained in that position until Bee decided to lead Bulkhead on a merry game of 'Catch Bumblebee If You Can'.

* * *

><p>One Day Later<p>

"Okay so if we cut through the Bassan Galaxy here," Bee indicated a spot on the map he had spread out on the floor of the control room, "then we should ocme out here in the Milky Way."

"Isn't Jazz in the Milky Way/" Bulkhead said thoughtfully. Jazz was a smuggler too and one of the few mechs still living who had known Bee before…and was still alive to talk about it. He also had the distinction of being one of the few mechs Bee trusted, which was a very good endorsement, at least in Bulkhead's opinion.

Bee visibly brightened. "Yeah so hopefully we'll get to see him then we can go to Earth and check up on that other matter."

Bulkhead nodded. For all of his friend's child-like mannerisms and enthusiasm there were times when he was forcefully reminded that once upon a time Bee had been one of the best smugglers around.

A/N: 3 reviews please.

A/N/N: The next chapter might not get posted tomorrow 'cuz I'm going to a friend's house tonight and I won't get back until late tomorrow but I'll do my absolute best to post it then.

Also I am fully recovered from my car accident (except for a splendid looking bruise on my hip) but I'm afraid that my car is totaled so now I gotta look for a new one.


	4. The Bassan Galaxy

Smugglers

Chapter 3: The Bassan Galaxy

The Bassan Galaxy was dark and uninviting. The stars were far and few between; serving as coordinates on a map instead of asteroid belts or planets as there were none. The Galaxy was barren; the only thing in it was an abandoned space bridge which was no longer in operation but had left as a marker or rather a point of origin.

The occupants of _Omega Supreme_ were as silent as the Galaxy around them; its somber mood affecting them as well. Even Ratchet was quiet for once and didn't offer a single disparaging comment. Optimus would have commented on the momentous occasion but thought it irreverent to break the silence that had fallen.

Surprisingly enough Prowl was the first one to speak. "I don't understand how anyone can stand to pass through here let alone meet."

"That's exactly why the smugglers love it," Optimus explained. "No one else dares come here because they're too scared so the smugglers rule."

"Everyone else is too smart to come here," Ratchet grumbled.

Optimus sighed. "It was either that or the three of us were going to get kicked out and I would prefer to retire, not get fired."

Prowl and Ratchet exchanged uneasy glances then fell silent again. They stayed that way for the next several hours.

* * *

><p>Bulkhead didn't like the Bassan Galaxy; it had unnerved him so badly the first time e traveled through it so badly that he had found a gun that he could hold and kept it with him at all times. He had also been extremely jumpy which was not a good thing when you were around Bumblebee who had a propensity to jump on unsuspecting victims. Needless to say they had spent the better part of a month patching up the ship.<p>

Bulkhead wasn't quite so jumpy now but he still didn't like it. Bee on the other servo not only liked it but enjoyed it (although he did like the Milky Way better). Bee liked the fact that it was so empty. He'd told Bulkhead once that, "All of this emptiness; it feels like my processor at times yet it's so beautiful that it just makes me feel oh I don't know, hopeful." Bulkhead hadn't questioned his friend further but had watched Bumblebee thoughtfully the next few days. Bulkhead might not like the Bassan Galaxy but Bee did and as far as he was concerned that was a good enough reason to put up with it.

* * *

><p>Starscream was fed up. He was fed up with listening to his clones arguing amongst themselves and he was really fed up with listening to Blitzwing's personalities fighting with each other. It was enough to drive him crazy, or give him a massive processor ache.<p>

"Enough!" he screamed and rose to his pedes. Immediately they all fell silent and turned to look at the furious flier.

"We are on our way to destroy the Autobots and all you seem to care about is who insulted who first! Now either you get serious or I will off-line each and every one of you!"

Silence reigned as the Decepticons exchanged startled glances then looked at Starscream then back at each other.

"We'll be serious," Slipstream answered for them.

"Good," Starscream nodded in satisfaction.

He was about to sit back down when he overheard Blitzwing whisper to Skywarp, "He's vorse than Megatron."

"Blitzwing!"

* * *

><p>The last couple of hours had been quiet, quiet enough to lull Optimus into recharge. Well it would have been except that he was still a little uneasy despite the fact that nothing had happened. He was just starting to relax ever so slightly when a beeping sound came from one of the consoles.<p>

"A ship is approaching," Prowl announced.

"Really? Maybe we can catch a smuggler today and go home," Optimus said hopefully.

Ratchet gave a disbelieving snort. "Yeah and my name's Megatron."

* * *

><p>"Bee," Bulkhead said slowly. "We're coming up on another ship."<p>

Bee appeared from under the console he had been working on and peered at the monitor. "Slag," he cursed and threw down his tools. Moving to a different console his digits flew over the keyboard; enhancing the small blip on the screen.

"It's Elite Guard," he announced. "I'm picking up three energy signatures onboard; all Autobot."

"Uh-oh, that's not good." When Bee didn't say anything Bulkhead started to grow nervous. "It's not good, right?" Bee still didn't say anything. "Right?"

"I'm bored," Bee grinned mischieviously and entered in a command.

The nervousness in his stomach that Bulkhead had studiously been attempting to ignore all morning came back with a vengeance.

"Bee, what are you fixing to do?" Bulkhead asked nervously.

Bee's smile merely widened. "Why, Bulkhead, I'm not fixing to do anything. The Elite Guard on the other servo, is about to capture a notorious smuggler with a humongous price on his head."

Bulkhead groaned.

"Oh don't look like that, Bulky. You'll only be in there for a couple of hours, a day at the most then you're going to mysteriously disappear along with the majority of their weapons."

"Okay," Bulkhead sighed reluctantly.

* * *

><p>"Have you identified the ship yet?" Optimus asked anxiously.<p>

"Give me a minute," Ratchet growled, punching a few keys then read the information aloud. "The ship is called, Prime, you're not gonna this but it's called," Ratchet was laughing so hard that he was having trouble breathing.

"Are you all right?" Optimus asked hesitantly, not sure if he really wanted the answer.

Ratchet nodded. "I'm fine. It's just…the ship is called _The Smuggler._"

There was stunned silence then, "Please say that you are joking," Prowl begged.

"I'm not," Ratchet had finally calmed down enough to answer them without laughing every single breath.

Optimus ignored Prowl whose right optics was twitching and addressed Ratchet. "Any energy signatures?"

Ratchet nodded. "I'm reading one energy signature."

"Attempt to contact them," Optimus ordered.

Ratchet nodded again and entered in a few commands then a large green mech appeared on the screen.

"I am Optimus Prime, a member of the Elite Guard. Identify yourself and state your purpose for being in this galaxy."

"My name's Bulkhead and I'm just here to meet a friend," the bot looked more than a little edgy.

Optimus raised an optic ridge. "Out here in the Bassan Galaxy? Are you sure that you're not a smuggler and that you're here to arrange a meeting with a fellow smuggler?"

Bulkhead swallowed and glanced around nervously. "Uh…" he stuttered.

Optimus continued as if the green bot hadn't even spoken. "But if you really are here to meet a friend then you won't mind if we have a look around your ship, will you?"

"I guess not," Bulkhead said reluctantly.

A few minutes later the three Elite Guard members boarded _The Smuggler,_ much to Bulkhead's dismay which he made no attempt to hide as it was all a part of Bumblebee's plan. At least that's what Bee had said, Bulkhead wasn't entirely sure about the plan; he trusted Bee but he didn't trust the little bot's plans.

After several minutes of looking around they had found enough weapons and explosive to power a small army.

"I think it's safe to assume that he's not just here to meet a friend," Prowl said drily.

"I'm placing you under arrest for smuggling illegal weapons through a protected galaxy and for conspiraring to sell said weapons to bots who intend to use them for malicious purpose." Optimus stopped and took a deep breath then slapped the energon cuffs on Bulkhead.

Bulkhead stared at the red-and-blue bot and blinked in utter astonishment. "Nice speech."

"Thank you."

"Did you have to memorize that or did you make it up yourself?"

Optimus thought for a moment. "I made it up," he admitted.

"Well it's very nice."

"Thanks."

* * *

><p>"Starscream, our scanners are picking up two ships dead ahead and one has an Elite Guard signature," Blitzwing announced.<p>

Starscream rubbed his servos together gleefully. "At last my plan is almost complete. All that remains is to capture them which will be delightfully easy as they won't be expecting us. Then we will attack Cybertron and rule the world!"

He laughed manically for several seconds then stopped when he realized that everyone's optics were trained on him. "What are you all staring at? Get ready to attack!"

* * *

><p>Optimus was happy; they had already captured a smuggler and hopefully they were on their way home. A little voice in the back of his processor whispered that things were going too well but tired to ignore it. Tried being the operative word.<p>

"Prime," Ratchet's voice an unusual note of urgency in it. "I'm up another ship on our scanners: it's the Decepticons."

A/N: 3 reviews.

A/N/N: Sorry it's so late but I just got back from my friend's house and then I had to type everything I had written on the computer.


	5. Flashbacks

Smugglers

Chapter 4: Flashbacks

A/N: When it says ten years it really means 10,000 years.

Bee gaped at the monitor below him. "Decepticons?" he squeaked. "Oh this is so not good," he let out a groan then suddenly brightened. "But if the Decepticons are here they'll be sure to have some weapons, out-dated maybe but still…"

Carefully he maneuvered himself so that this legs were wrapped around one of the rafters then began lowering the top half of his body towards the ventilation shaft that was a few feet down and a little towards the left. His digits grasped the shaft's metal edge and let go of the farter, pulling himself up as he did so. He heaved a sigh of relief once he was fully inside the shaft. He was glad Bulkhead hadn't been here to see that; he probably would've had a spark attack once he made sure Bee was safe.

Bee frowned. He didn't like scaring Bulkhead; it wasn't very nice and Bulkhead had been nice to him. He had taken good care of Bee for the past several years ever since…since…Bee felt his ventilations hitch and his spark jump.

"Calm yourself, Bee," he ordered. "First we'll rescue Bulkhead and then we can freak out all we want."

Bee took a deep breath and tried to think rationally which was very difficult as this sort of thing usually didn't happen. Oh getting caught by the Elita Guard was nothing new; they had been doing that for over ten years but the Decepticons…definitely new; at least with Bulkhead and the Elite Guard in the mix. Yeah this was gonna be a new challenge. Oh well it was fun to try something new every once in a while.

As Bumblebee started the long trek towards the control room he couldn't help but remember the first time he had rescued Bulkhead from the Elite Guard…

* * *

><p>Twelve Years Earlier<p>

Bee hid in the ventilation shaft, watching the Autobot who was supposed to be guarding Bulkhead but, instead, was amusing himself by reading a datanovel.

Bee vented quietly so as not to be heard and eyed the distance to the floor, calculating his chances of success. He could probably take the guard out easily enough due to the fighting skills he had discovered by accident one day when Bulkhead startled him.

He fell into a crouch and tensed in anticipation, adrenaline coursing through his small frame. It felt familiar, sitting in this position as if he had done it many times before in many different places under many different circumstances. Half-forgotten memories long since thought lost flitted through his processor as though begging to be remembered. Bee ruthlessly pushed all thoughts not pertaining to the rescue out of his processor; now was not the time to be remembering things, maybe later when he was curled up in Bulkhead's lap with a big green digit stroking his back. Only then would he indulge in trying to remember.

He vented quietly again and attempted to quell the terror and excitement battling each other in his stomach. Feeling both emotions at once confused the yellow bot and he resolved to ask Bulkhead about it after he had rescued his friend. With that thought in processor Bee felt a new determination rise up in him.

He tensed even more and leapt from the shaft, landing on top of the guard. Bee didn't give the orange Autobot time to react but zapped him with his stingers then hurriedly jumped to the floor just in time to avoid getting crushed by the falling bot.

Bulkhead, who had been worriedly pacing the cell, looked up at the sound of charged electricity and nearly dropped his jaw. "Bee?" he gasped in shock, grasping the bars of his cell. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get you out, big guy," Bee replied as he unlocked the cell.

The second Bulkhead was out he scooped Bumblebee up in his massive arms and held the little bot as tightly as possible without causing him any harm.

"That way," Bee pointed to a door at the opposite end of the room. Bulkhead headed for it but after he placed the guard in the cell, locking it behind him.

After going through the door Bulkhead looked around wildly then went straight to a control panel on the wall and held Bee to it, allowing the little bot to work his magic. Bee slid open a panel on his arm, revealing an array of tools. He selected one and pulled the wall panel up, uncovering several groups of bright covered wires. Whatever Bee did to hotwire the loading dock that led to their ship, Bulkhead had no idea but he certainly gained a new appreciation for the skills that Bee had acquired during his illustrious career.

Alarms began sounding; no doubt their escape had been discovered. Bee quickly finished up what he was doing then Bulkhead ran as fast as could to the loading dock where they hastily boarded their ship, Bulkhead closing the dock on their side. Bee jumped from his friend's arms and did something at the console that caused their ship to slowly start moving, firing at the Elite Guard vessel as it did so.

Once they had left the other ship a good ways behind them Bulkhead enveloped Bee in a hug. "Thanks for rescuing me," he whispered into Bee's audio.

"What're friends for?" Bee said as he responded by reciprocating the hug whole-heartedly.

* * *

><p>"Decepticons?" Optimus stared aghast at Ratchet, hoping against hope that the medibot was joking, yet knowing that he was speaking the truth.<p>

Ratchet nodded solemnly, "According to the computer the ship is called _The Megatron_ no doubt named for their glorious leader after he was finally off-lined about two million years ago."

"We don't have the firepower to beat them," Prowl spoke.

"Well what do you suggest I do?" Optimus snapped. "I'd rather off-line then surrender to them."

"As would I," Prowl agreed "but perhaps there is another solution…"

* * *

><p>Bulkhead had been in the middle of a light recharge when he was abruptly woken up by the sound of the door opening. He sat up and was greeted by the sight of the three Elite Guard members standing in front of his cell.<p>

"What do you want?" he asked.

The one called Optimus Prime spoke, looking pained as he did so. "We want to make a deal with you."

A/N: 3 reviews and I'm sorry this is so short but I have a massive headache which makes it extremely difficult to concentrate.


	6. Deals & Devices

Smugglers

Chapter 5: Deals & Devices

"Ve are picking up veapons fire from the Elite Guard vessel," Blitzwing reported moments before the ship next to their target sped off in the opposite direction.

"Don't tell me they've escaped," Starscream growled.

"Ve are still reading two energy signatures one of vhich is fading rather rapidly."

"Let the smugglers go," Starscream decided. "I don't have time to chase them down. Get ready to board the Elite Guard vessel and take charge of it. I want at least one of them still online otherwise the plan is useless."

The other Decepticons nodded, rising to their pedes and headed towards one of the cargo bays where the loading dock was located. They remained there until a bump indicated that they had reached the other ship. There were several clicks as they checked that their weapons were now primed and then the cargo bay door opened as Starscream entered.

"Decepticons, follow me," he led them onto _Omega Supreme_ then ordered, "Spread out and search the ship. Bring any remaining Autobots to me."

* * *

><p>Onboard <em>The Smuggler<em> Bulkhead didn't relax until he could no longer pick up the Decepticons on long-range scanners. Then he turned and looked anxiously at the three Autobots standing behind him. "I can't pick them up anymore," he informed them.

The Autobots visibly relaxed, breathing sighs of relief.

"Well, Prime, what are we going to do now?" the red-and-white bot that had been identified as Ratchet asked.

"Warn the Elite Guard that the Decepticons are back," Optimus answered promptly.

"Hey you promised to let me go if I helped you escape from the Decepticons. You didn't say anything about contacting the rest of the Elite Guard," Bulkhead protested.

"I said I'd put in a good word for you; I didn't say anything about letting you go free," Optimus corrected. "Besides that there's three of us and one of you so what're you going to do about it?"

Bulkhead's mouth opened and closed but he didn't say anything. Optimus smiled triumphantly; positive he had won the argument when he felt something sharp press into his spinal strut. Instantly his smile disappeared and he slowly turned around and came face-to-face with a yellow mini-bot with a black stripe down his chassis, his right servo an energon sword.

"It's more like two against three and right now I think we are the ones with the upper servo, wouldn't you agree?"

* * *

><p>Slipstream walked down the hallways of <em>Omega Supreme<em>, her weapons at the ready. She paused when she reached the last door that they hadn't checked yet; she held up a servo, signaling for Skywarp, who was right behind her, to be quiet. Opening the door she peered around it but saw no one. "All clear," she spoke into the com-link.

"Check again," Starscream ordered.

The female Decepticon huffed and said, "We've searched the entire ship from top to bottom. The only thing we found was some funny-looking gray stone with a green symbol painted on it."

Starscream was quiet for a minute then he said, "Bring the device to me."

There was a click as he abruptly terminated the connection and Slipstream rolled her optics. Shaking her head in annoyance she picked up the small stone and carried it to her creator.

Starscream scowled at the innocent looking object resting in his servo.

"What's the big deal? It's just a stone," Slipstream looked and sounded bored as she leaned against the wall.

"It's not a stone," Starscream replied through clenched denta. "A long time ago a scientist and engineer named Wheeljack developed a device that could cloak an energy signature or project as many as five thousand signatures. The device was manufactured by the Autobots during the Great War but unfortunately the scientist was killed during battle and the plans for the device were lost so only a few were ever made."

"That's interesting and everything but what does that have to do with the Elite Guard?"

Starscream shuttered his optics and slowly shook his head from side-to-side. "It appears that the Autobots got their servos on at least one of the devices and used it to trick us into letting them escape. I'm willing to bet that they were on the smuggler's vessel we let get away."

"Per your orders," Skywarp added then quickly tried to backtrack when Starscream turned to look at him. "I mean…uh I'll be trying to re-locate that ship," he hastily warped to the helm where he turned the ship to go in the same direction as the other one had.

* * *

><p>It was amazing how quickly a day could go south Optimus reflected. He, Prowl, and Ratchet were sitting on the floor with energon cuffs on their wrists listening to their captors argue.<p>

"All I want to know is why are they here?" the yellow one that had appeared out of nowhere snarled.

"Well they said they'd let me go if I helped them and so I did," Bulkhead attempted to explain, looking even more nervous than he had when Optimus boarded his ship earlier.

"Bulkhead, they're Elite Guard," the mini-bot spoke slowly as if he were speaking to a child. "Did you really expect them to keep their word?"

"Yeah," Bulkhead answered. "They're Elite Guard."

"All the more reason why you shouldn't trust or help them," the yellow bot turned and made as if to walk away.

"But they were just doing their job," Bulkhead protested, "they don't deserve to die."

His friend froze mid-step, a peculiar look crossing his faceplate and he let out a loud sigh.

"Please, Bee," Bulkhead pleaded. "They're innocent."

"Nobody's innocent," his voice was little more than a whisper. "Nobody," he paused and when he continued his voice had regained its former strength. "The Decepticons have no doubt figured out by now that you're on our ship which puts us in a lot of danger. We have some business to conduct in one of the nearby galaxies then we'll be more than happy to drop you off on some planet where you can contact the Elite Guard." He walked over to Optimus and looked him directly in the optics. "If I let you and your friends go do you promise not to try and kill us?"

Optimus considered his options. There weren't many and they all ended with him and his crew dying. He decided that maybe it would be for the best if he accepted this offer; at least all of them would still be alive in this scenario. "I promise."

The smaller bot suddenly grinned making him appear much younger than he really was. "Good," he reached down and released them from the cuffs. "I'm Bumblebee by the way," he announced. "And you're Optimus Prime. Your companions are Prowl and the grumpy one is Ratchet."

Optimus raised an optic ridge. "That's very good," he was impressed. "How did you know all our names?"

Bumblebee gave him a secretive smile. "I have my ways," he said mysteriously then ran over to Bulkhead and climbed up the green bot's back until he reached the shoulder strut and perched on it, leaning his head against the others. "I'm bored," he whined. "Can we play a game?"

A/N: 3 reviews please.


	7. Routines

Smugglers

Chapter 6: Routines

Bumblebee, Optimus decided, was completely and without a doubt, insane. At that precise moment they were currently playing hide-and-seek, how they had gotten talked into this Optimus still wasn't entirely certain but he was pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that the little bot had started screaming and refused to stop until they all agreed to play. Which was how Optimus Prime, a highly respected member of the Elite Guard, found himself crawling on hands and knees looking for a yellow mini-bot who was clearly a demon from the Pit in disguise.

As he looked underneath the last console in the room he was currently searching, sounds flitted in from the rest of the ship. He could hear Ratchet farther down the hall banging open doors along with Bulkhead who was checking his friend's usual hiding spots while Prowl was taking refuge in the rafters. He claimed that he was looking for Bumblebee but Optimus didn't believe him in the least little bit. Apparently Ratchet hadn't believed the ninja-bot either for he had gotten a peculiar look on his faceplate, one which signaled unique…repairs the next time one showed up in med-bay.

Suddenly there was a rather feminine shriek and a crash, bringing all of them running. Optimus, however, skidded to a stop as soon as he saw the source of the sounds. Prowl lay flat on his back with Bumblebee perched on his chest, grinning wildly from audio-to-audio.

"I scared you, I scared you," the yellow bot chanted, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"No you didn't," Prowl denied, attempting to sit up but unwilling to do so for fear of harming the smaller bot.

Bumblebee's faceplate screwed up and he drew in a deep breath. Optimus frowned and looked at Bulkhead who was wincing and reaching up to cover his audios. It was with sudden dread that Optimus realized it was the same face Bumblebee had made earlier before he started screaming. Ratchet had obviously recognized it as well judging by how rapidly was backing up and eyeing the distance to the control room.

"I mean yes you certainly did startle me," Prowl hastily backtracked. "I never would have thought that you would be hiding in the ceiling."

It was certainly the right thing to say, Optimus noted with obvious relief as Bumblebee's faceplate smoothed out and a smile began to appear.

"I know," Bumblebee said smugly. "No one ever thinks of looking up there. Why wouldn't I be hiding in the ceiling? You get a really great view from up there not to mention the element of surprise."

"I would've looked but I can't reach that high," bulkhead said.

"Of course you would've; that's why you're my bestest friend in the whole wide world!" Bumblebee jumped off of Prowl and landed on Bulkhead, wrapping his skinny arms around the thick green neck. Bulkhead patted his friend gently on the back and picked the little bot up, placing him on his shoulder.

Watching the two friends together gave Optimus a sharp prick in his spark. Suddenly he didn't feel so sure about turning them in when this mess was all over with. A glance at Prowl and Ratchet confirmed that they were thinking the same thing.

* * *

><p>"I don't trust them," Bee announced later that night from his position atop Bulkhead's berth.<p>

Bulkhead paused, paintbrush in servo and he turned to look at his little buddy. "What? Why not?"

Bee shrugged. "I don't know why," he frowned. "But something tells me we need to be extremely careful around them."

"Ok," Bulkhead nodded. He might not trust Bee's plans but he had learned early on not to underestimate Bee's instincts. No matter the state of Bee's processor; he still had killer instincts.

Bee looked satisfied and yawned loudly.

"Tired, little buddy," Bulkhead asked softly, laying the paintbrush down and crossing the room to stand in front of his berth.

"No," Bee protested than yawned louder than before. "Well, maybe," he admitted "but if you're not tired then I don't mind staying up a little longer."

Bulkhead felt a wave of gratefulness wash over him. He couldn't even begin to describe how lucky he was to have a friend like Bumblebee. He smiled down indulgently at the little bot and caressed his helm, rubbing two digits in a soothing, circular motion. Bee clicked happily and leaned into the contact, his yawns becoming louder and more frequent. Bulkhead ignored the scowl being sent his direction as he started humming, watching happily as Bee began blinking slowly in a desperate attempt to stay awake.

"Go to sleep," Bulkhead whispered, deliberately making his touch even gentler than it already was. It wasn't long before Bee succumbed to the demands of his body and fell deep into recharge. Bulkhead smiled at his sleeping friend then gently scooped him up and lay down. Once Bulkhead was flat on his back he carefully deposited Bee next to him in the space between Bulkhead and the wall. Only when they were both situated did Bulkhead consent to shutter his optics and fall into recharge as well.

* * *

><p>Optimus lay on the berth he had been given, servos tucked under his cranial unit as he stared at the ceiling which was barely visible in the dim lighting. Oh how quickly things had changed, he thought ruefully. Just that morning he had been so proud of his Elite Guard status and now he was stuck on a ship with smugglers. In fact he and the others were now dependent on the smugglers, a fact which did not sit well with Optimus as he was not the kind of bot who liked to accept help if he could avoid it.<p>

He sighed and rolled over so he now facing the middle of the room and listened. All was silent. Earlier he had heard Bulkhead tromping up and down the hallway before disappearing behind a door. Now there were no sounds at all. Only the creaking of the ship as it drifted broke the silence occasionally but Optimus paid it no mind.

He couldn't help but wonder: how long were they going to remain on this accursed ship? Bumblebee had mentioned they were going to do business in one of the nearby galaxies then drop the Elite Guard crew off on a planet but Optimus knew that there was an Elite outpost on one of the planets in the next system yet Bumblebee had made it sound like they weren't going to be near there. If that was the case then where were they going? With a sudden sense of dread gnawing at his tanks Optimus decided that he didn't really want to know and shuttered his optics in a desperate attempt to fall into recharge.

* * *

><p>The Decepticons were, for once, quiet. They exchanged uneasy glances and talked in whispers as if any sound louder than that would bring death to them all. What were they so afraid of? What had terrified all them, including Blitzwing who wasn't afraid of anything, so badly that their kneejoints quaked? The answer was surprisingly simple: Starscream was thinking. In and of itself that was nothing new; Starscream thought all the time but what had everyone scared was that he was thinking and smiling at the same time.<p>

One thing their fallen leader his traitorous second-in-command had in common was that while they both looked scary all the time, they looked positively terrifying when they were smiling. Not even Lugnut, who was one of the few bot who had never been cowed by anything, dared approach a smiling Megatron.

All of these thoughts and more ran through Slipstream's processor as she hesitantly approached the door leading to the room where Starscream had sequestered himself earlier that morning stating that he was not to be disturbed. She really didn't want to be here but had no choice in the matter as she had been unanimously elected by her fellow clone, Blitzwing, and Oil Slick to inform their leader that the engines needed to be repaired. She scowled at the door and reluctantly pressed the button next to it which was the equivalent of ringing a doorbell.

"Enter," called a voice from inside.

Slipstream waited until a click signaled that the door was unlocked then entered the room. She stood there nervously until Starscream noticed she was standing there and raised an optic ridge at her.

"What is it, Slipstream?" she didn't answer. "Well, I don't have all day just tell me what you want!"

She stood there for another moment; unsure of what to say then decided to go ahead and blurt it out as fast as she could then make a beeline for the door.

"The engines have shut down, they will need to be repaired before we can go anywhere else," she said quickly then shuttered his optics, waiting for the sound of weapons powering up. When nothing happened she slowly unshuttered one optic then the other to see Starscream just looking at her with a slightly annoyed expression.

"What do you need now, Slipstream?" the purple flier asked.

"Nothing," she stuttered.

"Then get out of here!" Starscream roared.

The femme nodded and hastily retreated from the room. Once outside she leaned against the wall and vented heavily.

* * *

><p>It took Optimus less than a day to learn that Bumblebee had a certain routine that he followed each and every day and less than that to figure out that Bumblebee did not like for it to be disturbed.<p>

First Bulkhead would come tromping down the hall to the rec room with a half-asleep Bumblebee perched on his shoulder. They would have energon and approximately two minutes later the little bot would suddenly become fully awake and spend the rest of the morning zooming around the ship until he had tired himself out and would then fall into recharge wherever he happened to drop. More often than not he would make Bulkhead his private berth but the big green bot didn't seem to mind. After mid-day energon the yellow bot would pilot the ship for a couple of hours then hang out in the rafters for a while before climbing onto Bulkhead and recharging some more. And if Bumblebee was really hyper then Bulkhead would give him some special energon then they would power down for the night. It seemed to Optimus that all the little bot did was drink energon and recharge.

The red-and-blue bot stretched. It was rather boring actually being on _The Smuggler._ Of course that was more than likely to change as for the past three days they had been heading deeper and deeper into the Bassan Galaxy where they were supposed to meet an old friend of Bumblebee's which, according to Bulkhead, was why the little bot was even more hyper than normal.

Optimus was jolted out of his thoughts by jubilant cries of "We made it!" Hurriedly he rose to his pedes and entered the control room, Ratchet and Prowl right behind him.

"Welcome to the Milky Way," Bumblebee said excitedly from his usual position atop Bulkhead.

"Look, there's Jazz," Bulkhead pointed to a blue ship not far from them.

All that Optimus could think as they neared the other ship was, _Please don't let them be another Bumblebee. Please._

A/N: 3 reviews please and the next chapter will be late as I'm going out of town again tomorrow.


	8. Jazz

Smugglers

Chapter 7: Jazz

Jazz hadn't been what any of them were expecting. He was Prowl's height with wide, white shoulder struts and a black body not to mention a light blue visor with what looked like black headphones.

"Jazz!" Bumblebee squealed, jumping down from Bulkhead's shoulder and tackling the new bot around the waist.

"Bee!" Jazz sounded genuinely happy to see his new waist accessory. "What's happenin' my main bot? How ya been?" he carefully detached Bumblebee from his waist and placed him a white shoulder strut.

"Ok," Bumblebee replied, leaning against Jazz's narrower cranial unit.

"Just ok? Come on, you can do better than that surely," Jazz encouraged.

Bumblebee shrugged. "Well we did have a run-in with both the Elite Guard and Decepticons at the same time."

"No? Both of them?" Jazz and Bulkhead exchanged significant glances, Bulkhead nodding slightly and Jazz relaxing minutely. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing," Bumblebee pouted. "The Elite Guard made a deal with Bulkhead before I had a chance to do anything."

"Poor, Bee," Jazz said soothingly then a comprehending look crossed his faceplate and he said, "Bee, were you playin with the Elite Guard again?"

"Maybe," Bumblebee admitted reluctantly.

Jazz shook his head and clicked disapprovingly. "Now, Bee, what have Bulkhead and I told you about that?"

Bumblebee sighed and rolled his optics. "Don't play games with the Elite Guard 'cuz sooner or later you'll make 'em mad and they might just wind up catching me."

"Exactly and you'd know what'd happen if they did catch ya?"

"You and Bulkhead would go nuts and try to rescue me but would wind up getting off-lined in the process," he recited as if he had had to say it a lot, which he probably did now that Optimus thought about it.

Jazz nodded and then turned to Bulkhead and said, "Bulkhead, my second main bot! Has Bee here been running you ragged?"

"Yeah he sure has," Bulkhead said then returned Bumblebee's scowl with a smile.

"Hey who are the new bots?" Jazz asked, noticing for the first time that there were three extra bots in the room and they were all wearing Elite Guard symbols on their chassis.

"These are the Elite Guard Bulkhead made a deal with," Bumblebee airily waved his servo in the air as he introduced them. Jazz was a little more polite and said hello to each of them, eyeing Prowl curiously.

"Hey, Bee," Jazz said suddenly. "I got you a present. It's in the ship. Go see if you can find it. Look for a red crate but don't open it," the black-and-white bot warned.

"Okay," Bumblebee visibly brightened and jumped down before speeding towards the blue ship.

Once the yellow bot was out of audio range Jazz advanced on Optimus and his crew, murder plainly written on his faceplate.

"I'm just goinna say this once and only once; I hear that any of you laid a servo on Bee or messed him up worse than he already is I'm gonna hunt each and every one of you down and off-line you you in the most painful way I know how. You got that?"

"I'd like to see you try," Prowl said snidely. Optimus groaned and buried his faceplate in his servos. This was _not_ going to end well.

Jazz raised an optic ridge. "Oh really?" his voice had suddenly turned cold. "Was that a challenge, _Prowl?"_ he put an extra emphasis on the black-and-gold bot's name.

"It's only a challenge if there are two worthy adversaries. I only see one."

"What a coincidence, I one see one too; me."

Prowl laughed. It was a cruel sounding laugh that had Optimus flashing back to when he was a youngling and some of the bigger bots would pick on him. He was brought out of his memories by Prowl saying "Can you do this?" the ninja withdrew a gold shuriken and threw it. The shuriken bounced off the walls, off the bots and every available surface before returning to Prowl's servo.

"Nice," Jazz said then opened a subspace compartment on his left leg and pulled out a pair of blue nanchuks. "But can you do this?" He started whirling the nanchuks, within seconds they were two identical blurs of blue which made Optimus and Ratchet dizzy to watch. Jazz threw one nunchuk, making Bulkhead as it ricocheted off the wall and flew back to Jazz who grabbed it and threw both blue objects at Prowl who didn't move out of the way fast enough and stood there with both nanchuks wrapped around him, making it impossible to move.

Prowl growled then started humming. A minute later the nanchuks fell off of him and he bent down to pick them up before tossing the weapons back to Jazz.

"I see you've had some training," was all Jazz commented before putting the nanchuks back in his subspace compartment.

Optimus heaved a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure he would've been able to handle much more of that.

* * *

><p>Sentinel Prime's office was dark except for a small sliver of light shining in through the window.<p>

A buzzing sound came from the door; Sentinel didn't move from his position in front of the window but merely said, "Enter."

The door opened and Cliffjumper came in. "Sir," the red mini-bot started hesitantly.

"What is it, Cliffjumper?" Sentinel didn't turn to look at his secretary but could almost hear the younger bot shaking in fear.

"Optimus Prime and his crew have disappeared, sir."

"What about the ship?"

"_Omega Supreme_ is still in the Bassan Galaxy but they are not onboard."

"Thank you, Cliffjumper that will be all." When the red bot didn't leave but still stood there hesitantly Sentinel frowned in annoyance. "I thought I told you that would be all."

"You did, sir, but…"

"But what?" Sentinel was in no mood for games. If Cliffjumper didn't hurry up and spit it out Sentinel was going to shoot him regardless of how much he needed a secretary.

Apparently the tone of Sentinel's voice had warned him the Prime was in no mood to be toyed with for Cliffjumper's next words came out quickly. "_The Smuggler_ is reported as having been in the Bassan Galaxy at the time when Optimus Prime disappeared."

Sentinel froze. A peculiar gleam entered his blue optics and he turned his head ever so slightly as he said in a quiet tone of voice, "Fetch Ironhide."

Cliffjumper paled and nodded, bumping into the door in his haste to leave the room. He stammered out an apology then left, closing the door behind him. Once his secretary was gone Sentinel turned back to face the window.

So the little yellow bug had resurfaced had he? How dare that insignificant creature show his faceplate now after everything he had done? Sentinel growled, the light from the window highlighting his murderous features.

"You called?" Ironhide drawled from the door, causing Sentinel to jump in surprise as he hadn't heard the other bot enter.

"You remember that smuggler we caught; the big green one who got the drop on you?"

Ironhide snarled. "I'm telling you there was another one! He attacked me before I had time to react."

Sentinel held up a servo and the orange Autobot fell silent. "Calm yourself, Ironhide. I believe you."

Mollified Ironhide asked, "Why are you bringing that up now?"

Sentinel was quiet for a minute then he spoke. "The green bot and the one who attacked you have just kidnapped Optimus Prime and his crew."

"Really?" to anyone else Ironhide might have sounded indifferent but Sentinel heard the faint tone of excitement in his voice.

"Yes really."

"Do you want me to take a ship and search for them, sir?"

Sentinel raised an optic ridge. Ironhide must really be eager to start searching if he was being polite. "No."

"But, sir," Ironhide protested.

Sentinel continued speaking as if the other bot hadn't even spoken. "The smugglers will quickly tire of Optimus and will no doubt drop him and his crew off on one of the nearby planets. When they do we will be waiting for them."

A big grin spread across Ironhide's faceplate. "I'll ready the ship, sir," he turned to go but Sentinel spoke just as Ironhide reached the door.

"I fear that the smugglers might have reprogrammed our Elite Guard comrades and so they might try to protect the smugglers or induce us to free them. If they do so then you are to treat them as enemies. Do you understand?"

Ironhide nodded. "Understood," then he was gone leaving Sentinel to continue staring out the window.

"I hope you are enjoying yourself, Bumblebee, because soon you'll be dead."

* * *

><p>Jazz, Optimus had to admit was a pretty good dancer. Right now Jazz and Bumblebee were attempting to see which of them was the better dancer; Bumblebee was winning. After dancing for two hours straight Jazz finally bowed out and went to sit at the table where Optimus, Prowl, and Ratchet had been watching.<p>

"Whew," the black-and-white bot sighed in relief as he sat down. "I forgot how much energy the little guy's got. How in the world does Bulkhead keep up with him?"

Optimus and his exchanged glances then Optimus turned to Jazz. "Has Bumblebee always," Optimus hesitated, not wanting to insult the little bot. Fortunately Jazz caught on and came to the rescue.

"Been like this?" Jazz gestured to where Bumblebee was in the middle of the rec room, still dancing while Bulkhead clapped and cheered him on.

"Yeah," Optimus nodded.

Jazz shook his head. "Naw, I mean he was that size and everything but he used to be the meanest, cold-blooded, vicious little bot ever."

"Bumblebee?" Optimus, Prowl, and Ratchet exclaimed in unison, simultaneously turning to look at the bot in question who was wiggling his little aft at them.

"Yep," Jazz nodded. "He'd kill you just as soon look at you. He used to be an assassin for hire, smuggling was just his side gig."

"Assassin?" Optimus said weakly.

Jazz nodded again. "Yep, at least until he met Bulkhead. I'm still not entirely sure how the two of them became such friends, seeing as how totally different the two of them are. I guess they just clicked, at least that's what Bee said."

"Well what happened?" Ratchet grunted. "How'd he go from assassin to dancer?"

Jazz's smile faded. "I'm not too clear on the details myself but I can tell you this; it was an unfortunate accident."

"What kind of accident?" Prowl asked.

"An unfortunate one," Jazz grinned.

Optimus sighed and shook his head. Something occurred to him and he turned back to Jazz. "How'd you meet Bumblebee?" he asked, curious.

Jazz's grin grew. "Believe it or not I was actually a stowaway when I first met Bee. I was a war orphan and wanted off my planet so I hid on the first ship that came along…"

* * *

><p>30 Years Earlier<p>

Jazz huddled in the cargo bay, trying not to knock anything over or make any sort of noise that would alert the captain that he had a stowaway onboard his ship. Jazz shivered. Primus, was the heating system not working? As the air got progressively colder Jazz felt his systems begin to freeze up. Great. He was going to freeze to death before he even made it a couple of hours from Lyon! Before Jazz slipped completely into emergency stasis he vaguely heard the door open then everything went black.

When Jazz came to the first thing he noticed was that he was no longer in the cargo bay but what looked to be a well stocked med-bay and he was covered by a thermal blanket.

"Good you're awake," a yellow mini-bot appeared in his line of vision.

"Who are you?" Jazz asked weakly.

The yellow bot raised an optic ridge and looked highly amused. "I think I should be the one asking the questions seeing as how you are on my ship but I will answer your question first. I'm Bumblebee."

"Jazz."

"Interesting name. Care to tell me what you're doing here, Jazz?"

"I wanted off of Lyon," Jazz replied.

Bumblebee chuckled. "Can't say as I blame you. I'd want off that backwater planet too if I lived there. No offense."

"None taken."

"So, Jazz, whatever am I going to do with you?"

* * *

><p>"So I stayed with him for a while then I set out on my own. Not long afterwards he met Bulkhead and became who he is today," Jazz concluded a soft smile on his faceplate as he gazed fondly at Bumblebee who was now sleeping in Bulkhead's arms. his tone suddenly became serious as he turned to face Optimus. "I meant what I said earlier; if anything happens to him I won't be held accountable for my actions."<p>

Optimus nodded slowly. "We won't hurt him," he promised.

"Good. See that you don't."

A/N: 3 reviews and by the way the more reviews I receive the faster I update. So you want more frequent and longer updates? Give me more reviews. A fair trade, wouldn't you say?

A/N/N: Sorry this is so late but I just got back from town and you guys said you wanted a longer chapter so I hope this satisfies you at least until tomorrow.


	9. Earth

Smugglers

Chapter 8: Earth

After Jazz left three days later it seemed that even the ship itself had fallen silent. Bumblebee moped around for an entire day before perking up when they finally caught sight of a blue planet amidst eight others, all revolving around a single sun.

"Where are we?" Prowl asked curiously as they neared the blue planet.

"That there's Earth," Bulkhead explained "and the galaxy we're in is called the Milky Way."

"Just out of curiosity, why are we here?" Optimus asked.

"To check up on something," was the mysterious reply as Bulkhead vacated his seat and Bumblebee took his place. "I suggest you find something to hang onto," Bulkhead warned. "It gets a little bumpy entering Earth's atmosphere."

Bumpy was the understatement of the century, Optimus thought sourly as he desperately tried to regain his equilibrium after Bumblebee had safely set the ship down. To his right he could heard Ratchet grumbling about how he was getting way too old for this kind of stuff while on the left Prowl was quietly moaning into the floor, mumbling about how he was going to dismantle Bumblebee just as soon as the room stopped spinning. Gingerly Optimus rose to his pedes, keeping one servo on the wall to help him stand upright and stay that way. Somehow he managed to cross the room and make his way over to where Prowl still lay and offered the ninja a servo. For once Prowl didn't start rambling about how he didn't need anyone's help but instead gratefully accepted Optimus's offer and rose unsteadily to his heeled pedes.

"I am never getting on a ship again," Prowl announced once he was able to stand under his own power again.

"Don't do anything hasty, Prowl," Optimus advised. "We'll have to get back on this ship if we ever want to go home again."

"I can't believe it!" Bumblebee exclaimed happily as he and Bulkhead paused next to the two still slightly wobbly bots. "This is the first time I've actually landed here! Usually we crash in some trees and it takes us two weeks before we can fly again."

Bumblebee waved at them as he and Bulkhead continued on their way to the cargo bay. Optimus and Prowl watched their retreating backs until they disappeared from view completely and exchanged horrified glances.

"On second thought this planet doesn't look that bad. Maybe we should see if we can find somewhere around here to live. The inhabitants of this planet are bound to have some abandoned building they no longer want that they'll be willing to let us have," Optimus suggested.

"That sounds like a brilliant idea," Prowl said approvingly.

"What does?" Ratchet growled from behind them, causing both bots to jump as they hadn't heard his approach.

"Staying on this planet so we don't have to get back on the ship," Optimus answered.

"It's stupid, that's what it is. Not to mention cowardly but I like it."

"Hey," Bulkhead peered around the door. "Aren't you guys coming?"

The three of them sighed and Optimus said, "We're coming."

* * *

><p>"So where exactly are we going?" Optimus asked two hours later as they drove through the streets of Robot City after driving through the city of Detroit which had been much larger than where they were now.<p>

"Sumdac Towers," Bumblebee replied, speaking for the first time since they had entered the city. In fact other than offering advice on picking out new alt. modes and the occasional random comment tossed out while passing a point of interest, the yellow bot had been extremely quiet.

"What is Sumdac Towers?" Prowl asked.

"Where we're going," Bumblebee said cheerfully, ignoring the groans from behind him and turned right. The others followed suit and soon they were coming to a stop in front of Sumdac Towers.

Sumdac Towers was several times taller than Optimus in robot mode. It was a combination of jade green and grey colors. The bottom of it started out rather skinny then grew larger until there was a slightly square dome with a thick spire on top.

"Why would anyone want to live in a place like this?" Optimus wondered aloud.

"Beats me," Bulkhead said with a shrug. "But the humans seem to like it. They have even taller buildings and some of them are made completely out of glass."

"Why?" Optimus felt compelled to ask.

"I think they're pretty," Bumblebee announced.

"So what do we do now?" Prowl asked. "I'm tired of this alt. mode and why do I have to keep projecting my hologram?"

"Because the humans don't know that we exist," Bumblebee explained, "and a motorcycle driving itself? That's extremely conspicuous; cool but conspicuous."

"I don't see why we can't just tell the humans," Prowl argued.

"Oh and what do you propose we say? 'Oh by the way you humans aren't alone in the universe. We're smugglers from another planet and we're being hunted by some of the worst villains ever to exist.' Yeah that'll go over well," Bumblebee said sarcastically.

"Perhaps we shouldn't tell them," Prowl admitted.

"Do all humans believe that they are alone in the universe?" Optimus asked.

"Not all of them," Bumblebee replied thoughtfully after thinking it over for a minute. "The man we're here to see, Isaac Sumdac, believes in life on other planets. Of course that's mostly due to that little present I left him."

"What little present?" Optimus asked suspiciously.

"You'll see," was the mysterious reply.

* * *

><p>The five of them waited in the parking lot for what seemed like an eternity but in reality was more like three hours. Eventually however the front door opened and a little girl emerged. She had bright red pigtails and appeared to be tugging on someone's hand. A minute later the door opened further and revealed a man. He wasn't much taller than the little girl but had black hair with a white stripe running through it. Optimus watched the humans as they talked, laughed and generally seemed to be having a good time. He couldn't help but wonder though: why were they here?<p>

"That's Isaac Sumdac," Bulkhead explained. "The little girl is his daughter Sari. Well she's not really his daughter but as far as he's concerned, she is. He sort of…found her."

"Technically we arranged for him to find her," Bumblebee elaborated. "One day we found an abandoned ship in the Bassan Galaxy and onboard was a protoform. Neither one of us knew much about taking care of sparklings so we decided to drop it off on Earth. We tried to find a suitable home for then we heard about Sumdac Industries so we left it here. I'm not really sure how it works but I think it imprinted on Isaac Sumdac when he found it. We come by every now and then to check up on it and leave some technology behind for the humans to find. Not too much though cuz they wouldn't know what to do with it all."

Bumblebee fell silent and resumed watching the humans while Optimus watched him. A myriad of thoughts ran through Optimus's processor but foremost was: why? Why did Bumblebee go to all the trouble of finding a good home for an abandoned protoform and continuously check up on it? Why did a ruthless assassin take in a war orphan? Why? None of it made any sense and Optimus quickly discovered that he didn't have an answer. But watching Bumblebee made him think that maybe, just maybe, the insane mini-bot was more honorable than some of the highest-ranking Elite Guard officers.

A/N: 3 reviews.

A/N/N: Sorry this chapter's so short but I promise the next one will be longer. I promise.


	10. A New Understanding

Smugglers

Chapter 9: A New Understanding

"Ok try it now," Slipstream backed away from the engine and waited. After a few minutes she commed Skywarp again and said, "I said try it now."

"The engines are running," her fellow clone replied.

"No they're not," she snapped.

"Well I don't know what you're doing down there but they are turned on."

Slipstream snarled. "Turn them off," she sighed. Hefting a wrench she re-approached the jumbled mass of wires and engine parts with a determined look on her faceplate. "You engines better start working soon," she threatened "or I'm gonna use you for target practice. Got that?" one of the engines choked slightly and she smiled. "Good."

* * *

><p>Ironhide stood in the middle of the building that housed the ships. "How long until she's ready to go?" he asked, inclining his head to where 'The Elite' was.<p>

"Just a couple of more hours, sir," the ship technician assured him.

"Well hurry it up," Ironhide growled.

"Yes, sir," the technician nodded and hurried off to assist another one of the technicians.

Ironhide watched him go then turned and headed in the opposite direction. He walked through the building, ignoring the others ships and technicians, dismissing them as unimportant.

Conversations died and bots stilled as the orange mech walked past them. They remained that way until he exited the room then the tension evaporated and they resumed what they had been doing.

Ironhide noticed the way things stilled when he walked into a room and felt sad. Once upon a time he too had been the same as them; working all day to repair space bridges. He had been happy. Then one day a group of smugglers had attacked leaving Ironhide as the only survivor. He watched as his teammates, his friends were brutally slaughtered in front of his very optics. He had sworn an oath that day; an oath that he would avenge his friends, that he would tracked down every smuggler in the universe and kill them. He had kept part of his promise, catching and killing many smugglers yet he had never caught them. The ones that killed his friends; they were still roaming free but not for long. After he took care of this little mess he was going to search every nook and cranny until he found them. He had already planned their deaths down to the very last second. Oh yes. Revenge was going to be so sweet.

The bloodthirsty look on his faceplate softened then disappeared entirely as he neared the twins' quarters. He pressed the door button and patiently waited until he heard the familiar call of "Come in!" He walked into the room and felt oddly pleased when their faceplates lit up with identical looks of joy.

"Look, brother, it be Ironhide!" Jetfire said happily.

"So it be," Jetstorm laid down the datanovel he had been attempting to read and joined his orange twin in tackling Ironhide.

Ironhide staggered back a step and smiled down at the blue and orange bundles of energy. "So how have you two hellions been?" he asked jokingly as he hefted them onto his hips and somehow managed to walk across the room and sit on the extra wide berth they shared.

"Fine," Jetfire answered, his words muffled by Ironhide's broad chassis.

"Just fine? Come on, you can do better than that," the larger bot encouraged then his optics narrowed as he caught sight of Jetfire's leg. The orange metal was twisted and even missing a little armor. "What happened to your leg?" his voice was deceptively calm and very low.

When it became apparent that his brother wasn't going to answer Jetstorm took it upon himself to answer instead. "Brother tripped and spilled paint on Sentinel." He didn't elaborate for there was no need. Everyone knew what happened when you made Sentinel mad; you paid for it dearly.

Ironhide's features grew dark and his grip on the twins tightened. "I'm gonna kill him," he growled.

"Brother and I be grateful but won't you be in trouble then?" Jetstorm asked worriedly.

Ironhide was silent for a minute then he said, "I wasn't going to mention this yet but after I do this next job for Sentinel I'm leaving."

"You be gone?" Jetfire cried, looking up at the bigger bot.

"Shh," Ironhide soothed, gathering the twins closer. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say, I'm leaving and I was wondering if the two of you would like to come with me."

"You be meaning it?" Jetfire asked hopefully.

"Of course I mean it. Why would I leave my favorite twins behind?" He smiled at them. "So what do ya guys say? Wanna go exploring with ol' Ironhide?"

The twins exchanged glances then turned to Ironhide and nodded.

"Brother and I be happy to go," Jetfire said solemnly.

"Good. You better get packed then. The ship leaves in a couple of hours and I'm not planning on coming back here," Ironhide warned, rising to his pedes.

"Ok we be ready," Jetstorm promised. Just as Ironhide was about to walk out the door Jetstorm called, "Can you read a story to brother and I first though?"

Ironhide let out an exaggerated sigh and sat back down, the twins snuggling close to his sides as he picked up the abandoned datanovel and began reading outloud.

* * *

><p>For someone who spent his entire life hanging in the rafters Prowl noticed a lot. He noticed that Ratchet spent most of his free time with a faraway look on his faceplate, that Optimus spent all of his reading history datanovels or going over old battle plans, Bulkhead liked to either check a quick stasis nap or paint but mostly paint while Bumblebee…Bumblebee spent his days swinging in the rafters or whatever he happened to feel like that day whether it was practicing ninja moves or talking to the walls.<p>

Today Bumblebee was making his way down the hall towards "The Room" as Prowl called it in his mind. He watched through narrowed optics as the little bot alternately hummed and danced his way down the hall. Prowl tensed and drew in his muscle tighter. Today was the day that he was going to see just what was behind the black door that Bumblebee always went through at least once a day.

"You know if you want to see what's behind that door you could just ask instead of hiding up there," Bumblebee's amused sounding voice drifted up into the ceiling.

Prowl scowled and landed on the floor in a crouch next to Bumblebee. He straightened and asked, "Fine what's behind that door?"

Bumblebee looked around as if to insure no one was listening then whispered in Prowl's left audio, "My collection."

"Collection?" Prowl asked in confusion.

The little bot nodded seriously. "It's always been here. I think I started it before…the accident."

Prowl nodded slowly, his processor adding up things he had both heard and seen, coming up with a few possible ideas, the most likely of which was: a trophy room. It also made the most sense as, according to Jazz, Bumblebee used to be a hired killer and most assassins kept reminders of their victims. Spoils of war as it were.

"It's a really nice collection though," Bumblebee continued.

"Has Bulkhead seen it?" Prowl asked.

Bumblebee shook his head. "I don't think Bulkhead would like it. He…wouldn't understand."

"But you think I would?"

Bumblebee looked up at the black-and-gold bot and said earnestly, "You're different from the others. You understand what it's like to do whatever's necessary to survive but they don't. Even Jazz never fully understood but he was a little wiser than some. But Bulkhead sees things in black-and-white. He doesn't acknowledge the grey area which is where we're form. It's something they will never get no matter how hard they try."

For one moment, one glorious moment Prowl and Bumblebee saw each other, saw everything they tried to hide from the others, from themselves. The intensity of the moment was so strong Prowl had to shutter his optics. When he re-opened them the moment was gone and all that remained was a yellow mini-bot dancing down the hallway. Prowl blinked again then swung into the rafters where he spent the rest of the day pondering.

A/N: 3 reviews. Sorry this chapter is so late but I had to pick out classes for college and change them around and all that good stuff.

A/N/N: I really didn't mean for anyone to feel sorry for Ironhide. I swear, that was the fartherest thing from my mind when I started this chapter and then I realized, about halfway through it, that 'hey I feel sorry for Ironhide'. Really sorry about that. He wasn't supposed to be likeable. Stupid characters!


	11. Revelations

Smugglers

Chapter 10: Revelations

Ratchet was in the med-bay which was extremely well-stocked polishing a wrench and whistling to himself when he suddenly said, "Either come in or go away but stop lurking outside the door."

The door creaked open and a yellow helm with horns and black stripes appeared. "Wow," Bumblebee's baby blue optics were wide open in amazement. "How'd you know I was there? Nobody else notices me until I'm right on top of them."

Ratchet chuckled and smiled slightly. "I'm a medic. I'm trained to notice bots trying to sneak out."

"I'm not trying to sneak out," Bumblebee protested, his arms and chassis appearing.

"No you're not," Ratchet agreed then frowned. "Why are you here?"

"Well," Bumblebee hesitated and slowly edged a little further into the room. "I was wondering, since you're a medic and you're already here and everything if you wouldn't mind looking at me."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "Do ya mean ya want me to give ya an examination?"

"Sorta," Bumblebee mumbled, shuffling his pedes nervously as he looked at everything except for Ratchet. Ratchet waited patiently and soon Bumblebee continued. "I want you to look at my processor," he blurted out quickly then lowered his gaze to the floor.

"Okay," Ratchet would have asked for more information but he had been itching for a chance to get inside Bumblebee's cranial unit since that first meeting a little over a week ago. "Hop up on that berth," he waited until his patient was properly situated on the berth before walking over. "Would you like me to sedate you?" the red-and-white bot asked kindly.

Bumblebee hesitated then shook his head. "No I'll be fine."

"Ok."

Both bots were silent while Ratchet gently removed Bumblebee's yellow helm armor and easily located his processor. Ratchet shone a small light on the area and was concentrating so much on what he was doing that he almost missed the quietly spoken, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ratchet said. "Why did you ask me to do this?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well we were wondering if my condition was permanent," he admitted then hastily added, "that is, Bulkhead was wondering. I myself could care less."

"Of course," Ratchet said drily, successfully managing to hide his smile. Bulkhead probably did want to know whether or not his little buddy was always going to be like this but Ratchet doubted Bulkhead would have mentioned it to Bumblebee.

"You don't believe me?" Bumblebee sounded…hurt?

"Nope," Ratchet didn't hesitate even as he touched a particularly sensitive wire causing the little bot to twitch and let out a yelp. "Sorry," Ratchet apologized, servos stilling.

"It's okay," Bumblebee assured him. "You're much nicer than the medibots at the Asylum."

"Asylum?" Ratchet resumed the examination.

"Yeah. I stayed there for a little while after the accident. I didn't like it though; they weren't very nice to me."

"How'd you wind up here then?"

"Bulkhead broke me out and we've been roaming the galaxy ever since."

The two fell silent once more then Ratchet said, "All done," and replaced Bumblebee's helm armor.

"So what's the prognosis, doc?" Bumblebee asked as he sat up and gingerly felt his cranial unit, checking to make sure that everything was back in its proper place.

Ratchet sighed heavily and said, "I'm afraid that there's nothing I can do. It looks like your processor was zapped by some kind of EMP but instead of erasing all your memories it just kind of scrambled everything up." Ratchet locked optics with Bumblebee. "I'm sorry but it looks like you're going to be like this for the rest of your life."

Bumblebee let out a sigh. "It's okay. I don't really care. I mean, yeah I would like to be able to recharge at night without all these weird flashes of memory playing in my processor. On the other servo I kinda like being like this. I don't remember very much from before but I don't think I had any friends. Now? I've got two great friends and a possibility of three new ones."

Ratchet nodded and smiled at the little bot. "Jazz and Bulkhead certainly would do anything for you," he agreed. "The rest of us don't think you're that bad either."

Bumblebee grinned up at him and jumped down from the berth then began walking across the floor. When he reached the door, he paused and turned back to look at Ratchet. "I think I'm gonna miss you guys," he announced then left.

Ratchet waited until the door had closed then said in a whisper, "Gonna miss you too, kid."

* * *

><p>"So how are you two enjoying the flight?" Ironhide asked jokingly as he entered the room that he was sharing with the Jet twins.<p>

Jetstorm groaned and shuttered his optics, reaching out with his left servo until he touched his twin's leg then remained still. Jetfire mumbled something but it was impossible to decipher as he was lying face down on the berth next to his twin.

Ironhide chuckled and sat down at the foot of the berth. "You'd think that since you guys can't fly you wouldn't get motion sickness but no…"

"It not usually be this bad," Jetstorm said weakly.

"Here," Ironhide placed something in the blue twin's servo causing him to crack open an optic.

"What it be?" Jetstorm asked, looking at the small blue cube warily.

"It helps with motion sickness," Ironhide explained then his optics lit up in amusement as Jetstorm sat up and rapidly downed the cube.

"I be feeling better already," Jetstorm exclaimed. He reached over and started shaking his twin. "Brother, the cube it make me better."

"Stop," Jetfire commanded as he sat up. "I be feeling worse." He accepted his cube from Ironhide and downed it. "It be wonderful," he announced.

"Good," Ironhide stood up. "I better go relieve Sentinel at the helm. He won't be happy if he has to do any work for more than a minute."

The twins sniggered and Jetfire asked, "How long it be until we be arriving?"

"Just a few more days," Ironhide answered.

"Where we be going?" Jetstorm was now standing upside down on the berth.

Ironhide frowned. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. "Sentinel's got some spies keeping an optic out and they'll tell him where the smugglers are going to be."

The twins exchanged puzzled glances and turned back to Ironhide. "Spies?" they echoed in unison.

* * *

><p>"Any vord yet?" the soft whisper cut through the dark like an energon blade causing Slipstream to jump and curse loudly.<p>

"Don't do that," she hissed. "You're lucky that I didn't shoot you."

There was a chuckle and then Blitzwing emerged from the shadows, coming to the edge of the femme's berth. "Actually you are the lucky one. Ve vanted to off-line you but unfortunately ve need you."

Slipstream sighed heavily. "What do you want?" she asked reluctantly.

"Ve vere vondering if you had heard anything more from the Autobots yet."

"Not yet. I already told you; we're supposed to stay here until the smugglers come back then follow them to whichever planet that they dump the Elite Guard on and then we contact the Autobots."

"That's a great idea," Skywarp said excitedly as he suddenly appeared at the foot of Slipstream's berth.

Slipstream and Blitzwing shrieked, their weapons coming alone and pointed at Skywarp.

"Hey," Skywarp protested, raising his servos in a sign of surrender. "Don't shoot me."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't let Blitzwing have at you," Slipstream growled threateningly.

"Let us at him," Blitzwing's Hothead face begged. "Ve vant to tear him into eency-weency pieces."

"No don't," Skywarp begged, a look of genuine terror appearing on his faceplate.

"Then tell us what you're doing here," to prove her point Slipstream aimed her guns directly at her fellow clone's spark chamber. "Start talking," she ordered.

"Okay, okay sheesh," Skywarp muttered. "You're worse than Starscream. Anyway I overheard you and Blitzwing talking the other day and that's when I realized that you had made a deal with the Autobots and I was just wondering what kind of deal it was."

Slipstream eyed him warily then decided it couldn't do any harm to tell him. "In exchange for telling them where to find the smugglers that got away and Starscream we get clean records and we'll take over the smuggler's route," she explained.

"Okay," Skywarp was silent for a minute then, "I want in."

Slipstream raised an optic ridge and looked questioningly at Blitzwing who shrugged. She turned back to Skywarp and said, "Okay but if you sell us out I'll help Blitzwing tear you apart," she threatened.

Skywarp gulped and nodded nervously. "Understood," he said weakly.

A/N: 3 reviews.

A/N/N: Sorry again. I swear I don't mean for this stuff to happen…it just does. I didn't know that Slipstream and Blitzwing were going to be traitors when I started this chapter. I don't mean for a lot of stuff to happen but it does. There are, unfortunately, only a few chapters left to this story. Sorry.


	12. Goodbyes

Smugglers

Chapter 11: Goodbyes

Two weeks was a long time Optimus thought morosely. It was long enough to develop a sort of affection for two smugglers and more than long enough to question one's job choice. He sighed loudly, settling back in his chair and almost jumped out of his frame when a voice said, "Hey, Optimus."

"What?" Optimus looked around wildly and felt relief course through his lines when his gaze settled on Bumblebee who was hanging upside down from the rafters. "Oh it's just you, Bumblebee."

"What do you mean 'just me'?" the little bot demanded as he jumped from the rafters, landing in the chair next to Optimus's.

"Well," Optimus flounded for a moment then brightened as something occurred to him. "You startled me and so at first I thought you were a Dececption," he explained "but then I realized it was you and I was so relieved…I didn't mean anything by it."

Bumblebee thought this over for a minute or two then said, "Okay." He reached into one of his many subspace compartments, pulling out a datapad. He handed it to Optimus with a flourish and said, "Read."

"What?" Optimus took the datapad, staring at the yellow bot uncomprehendingly.

Bumblebee sighed and repeated, "Read. Please," he added as an afterthought.

Optimus glanced down at the datapad, realizing that it was a collection of fairytales commonly read to sparklings and younglings at recharge time. He looked at the innocent, eager faceplate in front of him and sighed internally. "Ok," he agreed.

Bumblebee's faceplate lit up. "Yay," he cheered and clambered into Optimus's lap, curling up next to the red and silver chassis. Startled, Optimus looked down at the bot in his lap and felt an odd surge of protectiveness wash over him. Hesitantly he wrapped one arm around Bumblebee and grasped the datapad with the other. "Do the different voices too," Bumblebee demanded. Optimus rolled his optics and began reading, ignoring the little voice in his processor that was reminding him they would be leaving the next day.

* * *

><p>Bulkhead eyed his yellow friend worriedly. Bee had been conspicuously absent that morning and Bulkhead had eventually found him curled in the lap of Optimus Prime listening to the older mech read a collection of fairytales outloud. Watching them Bulkhead had felt a curious pang in his spark. He wasn't jealous but sad instead. Sad because they would be at the planet tomorrow and their guests were going to leave. Granted it would be just him and Bee again but he would miss them. After the first day the five of them had had a pretty good time overall. He suspected the Elite Guard members would miss them too if the surriptious glances at him and Bumblebee were anything to go by.<p>

"I don't wanna go to bed," Bee announced rather suddenly.

Bulkhead glanced up at the bot sitting on his shoulder. "Why not?" he asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.

"I just don't wanna," Bee said sullenly.

_Not tonight, please not tonight_ Bulkhead thought desperately, sending up a quick prayer to Primus. "Any reason why?"

"You're nosy you know that?" Bee snapped.

Bulkhead gulped nervously. _Oh no, oh no_. "I didn't mean anything by it," he said hastily, attempting to quell the storm before it started. Judging by the look on Bee's face he wasn't very successful.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bee demanded, his faceplate beginning to screw up.

"I…" Bulkhead was interrupted before he even had a chance to formulate a sentence.

"You always do this. 'How was your day, Bee? How was your nap, Bee? What did you do today, Bee? Are you tired, Bee?' I could go on for hours!" his voice rose with every word, causing Bulkhead to wince and make a mental note to have Ratchet out his audio sensors before they left.

"I always do what?" he asked quietly, resigning himself to the inevitable. If this was going to happen he might as well go ahead and get it over with as quickly as possible.

"You're nosy." Bee was on a roll now as he hopped down from Bulkhead's shoulder strut and began pacing around the room.

"Care to explain?" Bulkhead deliberately kept his voice gentle. No need to upset Bee anymore than absolutely necessary. Not that it would do any good, he thought glumly.

"You don't care about me," Bee cried. "You're only taking care of me because you feel guilty."

Bulkhead groaned internally. So this was the topic tonight, huh? Great. Just great. Well he certainly wasn't going to get any recharge any time soon.

"You feel bad about the accident and that's the only reason you're taking care of me now."

"Now, Bee, we knew each other long before that. We were best friends for almost ten years before the accident happened."

Bee's faceplate suddenly crumpled and he plopped down in the middle of the floor and started crying. Now bots didn't cry like humans, rather they clicked. So when Bee started clicking Bulkhead immediately crossed the room and sat down next to his little buddy. He scooped Bee up in one massive servo. "Shh," he soothed "shh." He ran a digit down Bee's back, making his touch as light as a feather. His efforts were rewarded when the clicks began slowing and Bee started hiccupping.

"You okay now, little buddy?" Bulkhead asked softly.

Bee sniffled and nodded. "I…I'm sorry, Bulky. I didn't mean it. Really I didn't."

"I know you didn't, Bee, I know," Bulkhead whispered.

"It's just…I'm really gonna miss them, Bulky. We've only known them for a couple of weeks but," the clicks were coming back in full force.

"It's okay," Bulkhead moved his servo so that Bee was now directly in front of Bulkhead's spark chamber. "Just let it all out, Bee. Let it out. I'm not going anywhere you know that right? You know I'll always be here whenever you need me."

"I know," Bee gasped amidst clicks.

"And you know something else? I'm gonna miss them too."

Bee stopped clicking long enough to look up at his much larger friend. "Really?" he sniffled.

"Really but I'll be okay. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you're still here," Bulkhead said simply. Later that night after a very exhausted Bee had finally fell into recharge Bulkhead stayed awake and stared up at the ceiling, unaware that a few rooms down Optimus Prime was doing the exact same thing while their companions were in the world of peaceful recharge. Both bots were thinking the exact same thing: _I wish we/they didn't have to leave tomorrow._

* * *

><p>The sun was shining brightly the next day as if to mock them. They arrived at Paridon about mid-day, not noticing the ship that had been trailing them since they left the Bassan Galaxy. Bulkhead docked the ship and they all stepped off and stood in an awkward circle on the smooth ground.<p>

"Well," Optimus was the first to break the nervous silence. "Thank you for the ride and for saving us from the Decepticons."

"You're welcome," Bulkhead replied instantly then they fell silent once again.

"Who wants to get something to drink?" Bumblebee asked brightly. "I know this place where they serve the best energon this side of Cybertron."

"I guess we don't have to alert the Elite Guard just yet," Optimus said hesitantly.

Bumblebee's optics lit up and he looked hopefully at Prowl and Ratchet who nodded. "Yippee!" the little bot cheered. "That way," he pointed.

* * *

><p>"Just a few more minutes now then we'll grab them and put my plan into action," Starscream said, gleefully rubbing his servos together.<p>

Slipstream exchanged glances with her fellow conspirators and nodded at them, signaling what she was about to do. She cleared her throat and said, "I need to go flush my tanks."

Starscream made a face and said, "Go but hurry back."

She nodded and hurriedly exited the room, heading towards her quarters. Once inside she reached into her spark chamber and pulled out a small communications device. "This is Slipstream calling the Elite Guard. Come in Elite Guard." No response. "Sentinel, you aft either come in or else I won't tell you where to find your smugglers."

Silence then, "This is the Elite Guard. You better have good news for me, femme, or else…"

"Don't threaten me you slagger," she growled. "I've off-lined mechs for less than that. The smugglers are on Paradin as are your companions."

"Good work, Slipstream," came the approving tones of Sentinel Prime.

"Just so you know Starscream wants to capture your friends," she warned.

"I could care less what happens to them," was the reply. "For all I care Starscream can turn them into slaves."

"I'll let you know where we are after you've dealt with the smugglers. Slipstream out."

* * *

><p>Bumblebee really knew what he was talking about when he said 'the best energon'. The five had them had all indulged in a little high-grade although Bumblebee and Bulkhead had split theirs while Ratchet downed three cubes. Now they all stood outside of the bar, looking at each other again.<p>

"We better get going," Optimus said at last. "We really do need to warn the Elite Guard."

"Yeah Bee and I got some stuff we need to be picking up so we gotta go too," Bulkhead said.

"You won't forget us will you?" Bumblebee asked worriedly.

Optimus smiled. "How could anybody forget you?" he teased gently.

"Well that's true. I am pretty memorable," Bumblebee said so matter-of-factly that all the others burst out laughing.

"There's the mayor's office," Bulkhead pointed. "They should be able to patch you through there."

Optimus nodded then watched as Bumblebee abruptly turned and walked away, Bulkhead following. Only once they were no longer visible did Optimus turn and begin walking in the opposite direction. The three of them hadn't taken more than a couple of steps when suddenly they were surrounded by Decepticons.

"Come with us," the one who appeared to be the leader ordered, "or die."

A/N: 3 reviews and the next chapter will be up soon. Which would you rather have after this story: Mixed-Up or another Smugglers story? Go to my profile to vote please. The poll will be closed one day after this story is finished.

A/N/N: The summary for Mixed-Up can also be found on my profile. I hope you guys choos another Smugglers story though. I will eventually write Mixed-Up either way though.


	13. Rescue: Sort Of

Smugglers

Chapter 12: Rescue…Sort Of

Fate hated him, of that Optimus was certain. He was also pretty positive that Primus looked an awful lot like a certain blue-and-orange bot he both knew and hated.

"Well this is pretty ironic," Prowl said, not moving from his position in the corner.

"What is? Being locked in our own cell? It's not ironic; it's embarrassing," Optimus grumbled.

"It could be worse," Ratchet said.

"Worse? Ratchet, we're locked in our own cell on our ship. How could it be any worse?"

"Look at it this way," Ratchet suggested. "Bumblebee could be here."

"That's a very good point," Optimus agreed.

He sat down and leaned his head against the wall only to jump up hurriedly when a familiar voice demanded, "And just what did you mean by that?"

"Bumblebee!" the three bots exclaimed in unison as the bot in question appeared, hanging from the rafters.

"What are…how did…what are you doing here?" Optimus stammered in shock, rising to his pedes.

"What do you think? We're here to rescue you." The mini-bot dropped to the floor then hesitated, servo hovering over top the keypad. "Unless you would prefer to stay here of course."

"No thank you," Optimus said hastily. "We would really like out if you don't mind."

"That's what I'm here for," Bumblebee grinned and unlocked the cell, stepping back as the former captives exited their prison.

"Where's Bulkhead?" Optimus asked worriedly.

"On our ship," Bumblebee said cheerfully. "He wanted to come but he's not really that good at this kind of stuff plus he's just a little too big to sneak onboard without being noticed. Follow me."

Bumblebee turned and led them towards one of the cargo bays. Optimus almost remarked he should know the way around his own ship but refrained. The three taller mechs followed the mini-bot through hallways and into of the cargo bays where he somehow hotwired the loading dock much to Optimus's surprise.

"Follow the leader," Bumblebee sang as they walked through the loading dock and finally stepped into the cargo bay of _The Smuggler_. None of them relaxed however until they were all safely onboard and the loading dock closed. "Bulkhead," Bumblebee commed. "The packages are onboard. Prepare for takeoff."

Seconds later they felt the familiar jerking, signaling that they were moving. "Let's go to the control room," Bumblebee suggested. "I wanna tell Bulkhead about how I braved a ship full of Decepticons to save you."

That earned chuckles from the others three bots and Optimus said, "And we appreciate it very much."

"Humph," Bumblebee sniffed. "You better or else I'm taking you back."

"We definitely appreciate it then," Optimus hastily assured them.

"Good, let's go. Bulky gets nervous when I stay out of his sight for too long."

"I wonder why," Prowl commented drily. Bumblebee made a face at the ninja-bot and exited the room, the others not far behind.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean they escaped?" Starscream wasn't just furious; he was livid. Advancing rapidly on the hapless Skywarp who was cringing on the floor and scooting backwards just as rapidly, Starscream's faceplate grew darker by the minute. "You were supposed to be guarding them, you idiot! So tell me how did three Autobots disappear from in front of you?"<p>

"I don't know," Skywarp whimpered. "I warped away for less than a minute and when I came back they were gone."

"Bots don't just disappear into thin air! Not without a good reason!"

"Maybe they had help," Slipstream suggested, causing all optics to turn in her direction.

"What do you mean?" Starscream asked, ignoring Skywarp and focusing his gaze on her instead.

"Well think about it," Slipstream pushed herself away from the wall she had been leaning against and began pacing back and forth. "They've been with the smugglers for two weeks. Maybe they grew fond of each other or something," she finished lamely when she caught sight of the disbelieving looks being sent her way.

"Hmm," Starscream frowned in concentration. "It's possible I suppose," he admitted reluctantly.

"And the smugglers could have some sort of cloaking device which would prevent us from detecting them," Skywarp said excitedly then frowned. "But if that's so then how did the Elite Guard capture them?"

"Pull up the entry logs from that day," Starscream demanded suddenly. "Tell me the name of the smuggler's ship."

Albeit extremely confused Blitzwing complied, quickly bring the desired information up on the main console screen. "The ship is called _The Smuggler_," he announced before Random took over and began laughing as hard as he could.

"This is no time for jokes," Slipstream snapped angrily, her red optics glowing brighter than usual.

"It can't be," Starscream whispered, sinking into the captain's chair. "I could've sworn he was off-lined years ago."

"Vho are you talking about?" Blitzwing asked curiously and with no small amount of trepidation. If it was bad enough that it rattled Starscream then the triple-changer wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to know.

"His desgination was Bumblebee. He was an assassin, the best that there ever was. He did some work for us occasionally but sometimes he would work for the Autobots as well. In fact he was the one who took down Lugnut."

Everyone in the room including Oil Slick paled at the news. Lugnut had been the size of Starscream and his two clones put together not to mention a punch that could take out half a planet. This Bumblebee character must be pretty fierce then.

"Perhaps ve should them escape," Blitzwing suggested.

Starscream paid him no mind but continued speaking, more to himself than anyone else. "He disappeared a long time ago so we all just assumed that he had off-lined. If it really is him we're gonna need some extra equipment." It was about then that he realized everyone was staring at him. "What are you all still standing around here for?" he snapped. "Go! Find some extra weapons and re-enforce the shields. Now!"

They all scurried to do his bidding, Slipstream feeling a sense of foreboding building up in her tanks. This could not end well.

* * *

><p>The Jet twins had been relaxing in their room when suddenly the door burst open and Ironhide strode in. The twins took one look at his faceplate then exchanged frightened glances.<p>

"Brother," Jetfire whispered. "We be slagged."

"What be wrong, Ironhide?" Jetstorm asked timidly.

"The smugglers got away," Ironhide informed them "so Sentinel's not happy. And now we gotta hunt them down along with the Decepticons…" he was interrupted by Jetfire who had seized onto that one word shrieked, then dove under the berth in a panicked attempt to hide.

"Brother," Jetstorm said slowly. "There be no Decepticons here."

Silence then "Oh." A rather sheepish looking Jetfire emerged and reclaimed his spot next to his blue twin.

Ironhide chuckled then started to laugh. It wasn't long before the twins joined in too and continued to laugh until Ironhide's com link buzzed and Sentinel's voice sounded in the room.

"Ironhide, where the slag are you?"

Immediately the laughter stopped as the three mechs sobered up.

"On my way, Sentinel," Ironhide replied then turned to the twins. "When we do catch up to them it might get kinda messy so I want the two of you to stay in here no matter what, ok?"

"Ok," the twins promised simulataneously.

"Good," Ironhide said in satisfaction then left the room.

Once the big orange mech was gone the two smaller mechs turned to each other and pulled out the servos they had hidden behind their backs, revealing the digits they had kept crossed.

* * *

><p>"Prepare to fire," Starscream ordered.<p>

"But we don't even know where they are," Slipstream protested.

"They'll be heading for the nearest Elite Guard outpost so they can warn the rest of the Autobots about us. Therefore they'll have to go in the same direction that we're going. So if we fire enough times we should hit their ship and disengage the cloaking device."

"Oh," Slipstream fell silent and activated the weapons system. "Weapons online," she reported.

"Fire!"

A/N: 3 reviews. Only a few chapters left now. Don't forget to tell me (or vote) which story you want done first. Also don't forget: anybody who has an urge to do illustrations of any of my stories is welcome to do so. Just email me the link and tell which story it goes with-also which scene too.


	14. Flight

Smugglers

Chapter 13: Flight

They had almost made it to the control room when the ship suddenly jerked, almost knocking Optimus off his pedes. "What was that?" the red-and-blue bot wondered out loud.

"Someone's firing at us," Bumblebee said grimly, breaking into a run.

"I thought you said they couldn't see us," Optimus accused as he began running to.

"They can't," Bumblebee replied "but they probably figured out by now that we're going to try and warn the Elite Guard about them and there's an Elite outpost a couple of planets away."

"Do you think we could contact them from here?" Prowl asked.

"We probably could but unfortunately I don't know that particular frequency," Bumblebee admitted. "Well I used to know it," he said defensively when both Ratchet and Optimus groaned "but then the accident happened and I forgot it."

"We could, and I can't believe I'm even suggesting this, contact Sentinel and have him contact the outpost for us," Ratchet suggested reluctantly.

Bumblebee stopped so suddenly that the others skidded, crashing into each other in a desperate attempt to avoid hitting him. The cause of the massive collision ignored them and asked, "Sentinel Prime? Blue-and-orange bot? Real stuck up on himself?"

"Yeah. Why? Do you know him?" Optimus wanted to know even as he attempted to disengage himself from Prowl.

"I…I don't know," Bumblebee frowned. "I just had a flash of memory when Ratchet said 'Sentinel' so I'm guessing that I do. I felt really annoyed too."

"You've met him," Ratchet said matter-of-factly. "Any bot who's met that glitch-head feels the exact same way."

Bumblebee sniggered and said with a grin, "We can discuss that later. Bulky'll be going nuts!" he helped them to their pedes then they went through another door and entered the control room.

Bulkhead turned from his position at one of the consoles and looked relieved to see them. "There you are. I was worried that something had happened to you guys."

"We're fine, Bulky," Bumblebee assured him. Although if anything Bulkhead looked more worried.

"Does that mean the hallway needs to be replaced?" Bulkhead asked worriedly.

"Nothing that can't be pounded out again," Bumblebee said cheerfully.

"Um I don't mean to be rude or anything but the Decepticons?" Bumblebee and Bulkhead turned to look at Optimus who merely raised both optic ridges at them.

"Use that console over there," Bumblebee pointed. "I'm sure you know how to use it."

Optimus confirmed that he did and quickly entered the hailing frequency for Sentinel's ship while Bumblebee did something at a different console. Seconds later the faceplate of Sentinel Prime appeared on the screen.

"This is Sentinel Prime of the Elite Guard. Identify yourself," he ordered.

"Sentinel, good to see you, sir," Optimus stood with his servos clasped loosely behind his back.

Sentinel choked but quickly recovered. "Optimus, why am I hearing from you? I thought you were in the Bassan Galaxy. I distinctly remember ordering you to track down smugglers there and I know for a fact that the Bassan Galaxy is a dead zone," Sentinel narrowed his optics.

Optimus fought the urge to tell his superior off and gritted his denta as he said, "We would be there now, Sentinel, but we ran into some Decepticons before we had a chance to start looking for smugglers."

Sentinel laughed. "Decepticons? You really expect me to believe that Decepticons, who haven't been seen since the end of the Great War, have suddenly reappeared."

"Yes."

"Why now?"

"I don't know why," Optimus was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. "But they are here and what's more important is the fact that they're trying to kill us!"

"Well as long as you're on _Omega Supreme_ you should be safe," Sentinel said superiorly, his servo hovering over the button that would terminate their transmission.

"About that," Optimus hesitated. "We are no longer onboard _Omega Supreme."_

That certainly got Sentinel's attention. "What? Don't tell me the Decepticons have the ship."

"The Decepticons have the ship," Optimus informed him.

"I asked you not to tell me that," Sentinel groaned then heaved a sigh. "Very well. Where exactly are you anyway?"

Optimus hesitated again, turning to look at the other bots in the room before replying to Sentinel's query. "We're in the Delphi Galaxy aboard a vessel called _The Smuggler_."

"What?" Sentinel's optics were gleaming, making Optimus slightly uneasy.

"They're not smugglers," Optimus lied. "They just happen to have a peculiar sense of humor that's all."

"We're not far from your position. We should be there shortly. Sentinel Prime out." The image on the screen blinked then faded out completely. Optimus growled deep in his throat then let out a sigh or relief.

"He looks really familiar," Bumblebee mused. "I know him. I'm positive of that but I don't remember anything else. I remember there was a bar but other than that I really don't know."

The ship suddenly jerked again, sending Optimus sprawling on the floor. The others remained standing but only because they grabbed at the consoles. Suddenly a red button on one of the consoles started flashing and a beeping noise filled the room.

"What in tarnation is that?" Ratchet yelled.

"Whatever it is it doesn't sound good," Prowl commented.

"The shields are failing!" Bumblebee yelled. "Re-route all non-essential systems and divert the power."

"It's not working," Bulkhead called a minute later. "The shields are still failing and it looks like that last shot hit the engines!"

"Slag," Bumblebee cursed then pulled something up on the main screen. "Okay it looks like there's a deserted planet not too far from here. We should be able to make it."

"And then what?" Prowl asked.

"Then," Bumblebee said grimly "we make our last stand."

"Last stand?" Optimus raised an optic ridge.

"I don't want to make my last stand today," Prowl said.

"Sorry," Bumblebee shrugged. "But I felt the moment needed something dramatic."

"But 'our last stand'? That's a little too dramatic, Bumblebee," Optimus told him.

Bumblebee pouted. "Whatever. I just wanted to say it."

Optimus groaned, feeling the onset of a particularly bad processor ache.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe it," Sentinel moaned. "I've been searching for that ship for over ten years and Optimus Prime finds it in less than a month!"<p>

"Why do you want that ship?" Ironhide asked.

"Well they're smugglers that right there should more than enough for you."

"I know they're smugglers but you're acting like its personal or something."

"Oh and you can talk?"

Ironhide winced, wishing he hadn't told Sentinel about his friends. "All I'm saying is that if it's a personal vendetta I'd really like to know about before we get there."

Sentinel thought it and said, "Fair enough. The captain of _The Smuggler_ is called Bumblebee. I did some business with him once and he cheated me, never got the job done. I've been waiting to pay him back and now it looks like I'll finally get the chance."

Ironhide eyed his superior warily but didn't say anything, preferring instead to silently vow to watch his own back. Just in case.

* * *

><p>"The smugglers are heading off course," Slipstream reported.<p>

"Where are they going?" Starscream asked.

"It looks like they're heading towards a deserted planet not far from here," she replied after bring up the information.

"Follow them," Starscream ordered. "I'm not going to let some smugglers get in the way and ruin everything I've worked for. When they get off the ship fire to kill."

A/N: 3 reviews but I really would prefer more. There should only be two chapters left.


	15. Showdown!

Smugglers

Chapter 14: Showdown!

Ironhide stood outside the door to his room, hesitating. Usually when he was about to kill smugglers he would feel exhilarated but today he felt…uneasy. Like something bad was about to happen. The kind of bad that resulted in death. His death. Or worse the twins' death. Which led to his current predicament. The twins had promised to remain on the ship during battle but he had to make certain. The twins were the only important things left in his life now. He couldn't lose them. He couldn't. H eisghed and looked at the door then slowly reached out and locked the door, changing the code to one that only he knew. He hesitated again then turned and walked away. He didn't care if the twins never talked to him again; he would do whatever necessary to protect them.

* * *

><p>The five bots walked through <em>The Smuggler's<em> hallways, looks of grim determination on their faceplates. They were marching for one purpose and one purpose only; to put a stop to whatever plan the Decepticons had up their armor.

"Wait" Bumblebee stopped and removed one of the wall panels revealing a cache of weapons. He pulled out some of the weapons and climbed into the wall. Shortly afterwards they could hear banging and the sound of Bumblebee cursing and throwing things around.

"What is he doing?" Optimus asked.

"Do we really want to know?" Prowl inquired with a raised optic ridge.

Optimus considered then shook his head. "Probably not," he agreed.

"I think he's looking for something," Ratchet observed.

"And just what gave you that idea?" Prowl said sarcastically.

Before Ratchet had a chance to come up with a snappy comeback there came a cry of "Found it!" and Bumblebee emerged, triumphantly holding aloft a bundle wrapped in a brown thermal blanket.

"What is that?" Optimus asked.

"Just something that I never leave home without," Bumblebee said mysteriously. "Come on we need to hurry if we want everything to be set up by the time the Decepticons arrive."

"Want what set…actually, on second thought, never mind. I don't really want to know," Optimus said.

"That's probably for the best," Bulkhead said in a whisper meant for Optimus's audios only. "The last time I asked he talked for two hours straight and by the time he was through I hadn't understood a single word he said."

Optimus just nodded and they resumed walking, Bumblebee leading the way, clutching at his precious bundle all the while. Optimus couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen. How could they, three Elite Guard members and two smugglers even hope to take down the Decepticons? Looking around at the other bots; at Prowl who was crawling in the rafters, at Ratchet who grumbling about being too old for this slag, at Bulkhead who was content to follow his friend wherever he went and at Bumblebee who owed them nothing yet still, even now, risked not only his life but Bulkhead's to save Optimus and his crew made Optimus feel if not hopeful then at least slightly more optimistic. They might not win this battle but if he had to die today then he couldn't think of a finer group of bots to die with.

* * *

><p>"Aren't we there yet?" Starscream demanded.<p>

"Just a few more minutes," Slipstream replied through gritted denta, resolving to shoot her creator if he asked her that question one more time.

"Hurry," the flier snapped, ignoring the ominous growling that came from his clone.

* * *

><p>"Almost done," Bumblebee announced.<p>

"What are you doing?" Optimus asked.

Bumblebee's helm popped up as he peered at them over a rock. "Just something," he said vaguely then disappeared again.

"Well I suggest you hurry up because here they come," Prowl pointed at a small speck in the distance that was growling larger by the second.

"Done," Bumblebee re-emerged and moved so that he was standing next to Bulkhead. "Well this is it, Bulky. The big one."

"Huh?" Bulkhead just looked confused causing Bumblebee to groaned and shake his head in exasperation.

"Never mind," he sighed.

A burst of weapons fire hit a rock barely an inch from Optimus's head. They turned to see that while they had been talking the Decepticons had gotten close enough to fire at them. Coming to his senses Bumblebee yelled "Hit the deck!" and dived out of the way just in time to avoid getting blasted away. The others quickly followed suit, hiding behind rocks that served as shields for them.

"What's the plan?" Optimus asked in between blasts.

"Stay behind these rocks until they're destroyed then hide behind some different ones," Bumblebee called back.

"That's it?" Optimus was horrified to say the least. "I thought you were supposed to be the expert here; the one with all the plans!"

"I'm working on it! Until then we need to stay out of sight," he was forced to duck due an extremely close blast. "Wow. That was close."

"Do you mind hurrying up with a plan?" Prowl asked in annoyance as he leaped in the air to avoid another blast before diving behind a different rock.

"I can't think with all this noise," Bumblebee cried.

"Tell that to them," Ratchet advised.

The ship was getting closer and closer. Optimus could now read the name on its side along with the red Autobot symbol and the smaller Elite Guard symbols. "I'm getting fired at by my own ship," he muttered. "Prowl was right; this is ironic." Just as the red-and-blue bot was about to be blasted away a blue ship suddenly came out of nowhere and fired at the Decepticons, causing them to pull up sharply. Optimus didn't even try to hide his smile as he watched the Decepticons crash into some rocks not far away. Although he did wince as several rocks came tumbling down at them.

Moments later the blue ship sat down rather gently and two bots exited. The first was Optimus's height with a very square jaw and painted orange and blue. Even if Optimus hadn't known him there would've been no doubt that this was Sentinel Prime, head of the Elite Guard and second-in-command to Ultra Magnus alone. The other bot with him was no stranger either, Optimus noted with a sudden sense of dread. He was orange and Bulkhead's height and almost as wide. His name was Ironhide and he answered only to Sentinel. He was also known for his pure hatred of smugglers and his willingness to kill any that he saw, regardless of their crimes. Whenever he went somewhere you could be sure that the body count would be high.

"What is he doing here?" Prowl hissed quietly, indicating Ironhide.

"I don't know," Optimus answered worriedly. "But either way it's not good."

"Especially for them," Ratchet inclined his head towards the two smugglers now standing behind them.

Before Optimus could say anything there was a crash as four Decepticons staggered out of the wreckage of _Omega Supreme._ Optimus felt a chill run down his spinal strut as his processor automatically matched their faceplates to wanted posters, immediately identifying them. The one in the middle was Starscream, to his left and right respectively were his two clones Slipstream and Skywarp and bringing up the rear was Blitzwing. According to their files each bot had a unique talent that made them dangerous on their own but deadly when combined. Starscream was, without a doubt, the most dangerous. He was conniving, backstabbing, extremely brilliant and a coward that liked the word 'retreat'. Slipstream was conniving and brilliant but scared of almost nothing. The only thing that Skywarp could do was warp anywhere he wanted as long as there wasn't an anti-warp field protecting it and he was even more cowardly than his creator. Considering Blitzwing consisted of three personalities he easily qualified for the second most dangerous. Whether he shot fire or ice his aim was deadly however having three personalities did have its drawbacks as he was prone to break out in song at the most inopportune times.

"Prime," Ratchet said slowly. "Unless you or Bumblebee come up with a plan in the next two seconds I think it's safe to assume that we'll be slagged." As much as he hated too Optimus couldn't help but agree with the red-and-white medic. Things weren't looking good at all.

The seven bots stopped and just looked at each other warily, mentally calculating weaknesses that could be exploited. Starscream was the first to break the tension-filled silence. "Well," he said. "This is a surprise. Not only do we have the head of the Elite Guard here but we also have one of the best assassins that ever lived, helping the Elite Guard. Will wonders never cease?"

"Assassin?" Sentinel raised an optic ridge. "Optimus," he chided. "I could've sworn you said they were just innocent passer-bys."

"Sir, he's a Decepticon. You can't believe a word he says," Optimus said nervously.

"Normally I would agree with you, Optimus, but I happen to know for a fact that he is an assassin."

"I remember you now," Bumblebee cried delightedly. "You hired me to kill some bot named Ultra Magnus!"

The sound of jaws dropping could be heard as every bot there absorbed Bumblebee's statement. Even the Decepticons looked stunned while Ironhide just looked furious.

"What?" the orange mech roared. "You told me the assassination attempt on his life was done by a smuggler who didn't like the new laws he was passing!"

"And I can't believe you were dumb enough to fall for it," Sentinel said snidely, not even caring or noticing that his subordinate's optics were flashing red. Optimus saw it however and instinctively backed up closer to the bots with him.

"Enough," Slipstream said with a roll of her optics. "Here's Starscream and the smugglers as promised. I suggest you keep your end of the bargain or we'll kill you."

"Slipstream, what are you doing?" Starscream asked nervously as he turned to face his femme clone and began to back up..

"Ve made a deal vith the Autobots," Blitzwing explained calmly as if he were discussing the weather and not the betrayal of his leader.

"The two of you actually betrayed me?" Starscream actually looked hurt.

"I think you mean the three of us," Skywarp announced.

"Let me get this straight; the Decepticons are turning Starscream over to Sentinel who hired Bumblebee to kill Ultra Magnus. Did I leave anything out?" Optimus asked, desperately trying to make some sort of sense out of everything.

"Nope. That about covers it," Ratchet sighed.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, onboard <em>The Elite<em> the twins were bored and also a little worried. Other than the initial sound of _Omega Supreme _crashing they had heard absolutely nothing. Ironhide had been talking to them via com-link but had stopped midsentence and was now refusing to answer them at all.

"Brother, I be worried," Jetstorm stated.

"Me too, Brother, me too," Jetfire sighed then brightened. "We go outside, be checking to see if Ironhide still be online or not."

"That be good idea," Jetstorm agreed.

They hopped down off the berth and tried to open the door only to find it locked.

"Ironhide be no trusting us," Jetfire grumbled.

"He be smart," Jetstorm argued.

The brothers continued their argument even as they tried unsuccessfully to open the door.

* * *

><p>"Blitzwing betraying me I can understand," Starscream growled through clenched denta "but you two," he leveled his gaze at Slipstream and Skywarp. "You two are my clones, my creations. You owe your very existence to me. Why would you turn on me?"<p>

"You said it yourself," Slipstream informed him. "We're your clones."

A feral look crossed Starscream's faceplate as he let out a howl of rage and started firing.

* * *

><p>"Brother, we be needing to hurry," Jetfire cried, tugging at the door.<p>

"Brother, use your fire," Jetstorm suggested.

Jetfire thought about it and was spurred into action by the sound of weapons fire. Quickly he flung fire at the door and waited as it burned through the wood leaving a gaping hole behind.

"You did it, Brother," Jetstorm said excitedly. "Now we be going. Ironhide might be needing our help."

"I coming, Brother," Jetfire transformed into a plane and then flew after his brother.

* * *

><p>Optimus wasn't quite sure what exactly happened. He clearly remembered Starscream shooting but after that he wasn't too sure. When the smoke cleared Optimus found himself crouched behind a rock alongside Ratchet and Prowl. Bulkhead stood next to an off-line Blitzwing who looked to be in emergency stasis. Slipstream and Skywarp lay on the ground moaning while an annoyed looking Sentinel Prime stood behind the force field that his shield generated. But what caught Optimus's attention was Starscream standing overtop Ironhide who lay stunned on the ground.<p>

"Now you die, Autobot," Starscream raised his weapons but before he had a chance to fire a gust of wind blew him off his pedes and sent him sprawling to the ground. Bumblebee leapt from behind the rock that he had hid behind and tackled Starscream. The two bots rolled around for several minutes before there was the sound of metal striking metal and Starscream's head rolled several feet before coming to a stop in front of Slipstream's pedes.

They all stared at the body of the decapitated Decepticon then at the yellow mini-bot calming cleaning his energon sword and back again. That probably would have gone on for quite a while had not two blurs, one blue and the other orange, flown past Optimus and tackled Ironhide who was just starting to sit up.

"Ironhide!" the blue one cried. "You be online. Look, Brohter."

"I be seeing," the orange one replied.

Ironhide groaned and sat the rest of the way up, somehow managing not to dislodge the two small bots now attached to him. "I thought I made you two promise to stay on the ship," he scolded. The two hung their heads but perked up when he said, "But I suppose I am grateful that you broke your promise."

"We keep our digits crossed," the blue one stated and snuggled closer into Ironhide's chassis.

"While this is very heartwarming and all I do have a schedule to keep," Sentinel pointed his sword at them. "So I really would like to get this over with as soon as possible."

"Get what over with?" Optimus asked he cautiously emerged from behind the rock along with Ratchet and Prowl.

"Why killing them of course," Sentinel nodded his head towards where Bumblebee was hiding behind Bulkhead.

"Why? What did they ever do to you?" Optimus protested.

"Ultra Magnus is still online," Sentinel hissed. "He," a digit pointed at Bumblebee who squeaked and pressed closer to his big friend "didn't fulfill the contract. He thought that too many innocent lives would be lost. Since Ultra Magnus is due to retire soon I can't afford to leave any loose ends lying about when I take over." He advanced, drawing closer and closer.

Optimus hesitated and drew in a deep breath. He moved to stand in front of Bulkhead, axe at the ready. "I can't let you do that," his voice was firm as was his stance.

"Neither can we," Prowl said as he and Ratchet stood on either side of Optimus, weapons drawn.

Sentinel just blinked then abruptly started laughing. When he had finally calmed down enough to speak he said, "I never thought I'd live to see the day when Optimus Prime betrayed the Elite Guard to side with murderers."

"I didn't betray the Elite Guard," Optimus said softly. "You did on the day that you hired Bumblebee to kill Ultra Magnus. I'd rather die alongside these smugglers today then spend the next seventy years serving under you."

"Then I guess I'm just going to have to kill all five of you," Sentinel moved forward when suddenly Bumblebee ducked. Not knowing why but figuring it might be a good idea Optimus and other three followed suit, leaving Sentinel to stare at them in confusion. When nothing happened he shrugged and took one more step. That was when everything went BOOM!

Debris rained down on the five bots crouching on the ground for several minutes. Optimus shielded his cranial unit but winced as the debris hit his arms instead. Ratchet was going to be pounding dents out of them for days. Finally it stopped. Cautiously Optimus unshuttered his optics then scooted back with a yelp. The head of Sentinel Prime lay right in front of him. "What was that?" he asked when he had finally regained control of his vocal processor.

"That," Bumblebee said proudly "was my plan."

A/N: 5 reviews and one more chapter to go.

A/N/N: Oil Slick died in the crash if no one got that.


	16. Aftermath

Smugglers

Chapter 15: Aftermath

One week later things still hadn't calmed down. Cybertron had been stunned and horrified to learn of Sentinel's death. Ironhide had informed them by showing them Sentinel's head then tendered his resignation. He wasn't as bad as Optimus originally thought. In fact he was actually rather…nice. At least as far as the twins were concerned. It hadn't taken long for Optimus to realize that he absolutely doted on them. Which was good because they definitely needed someone to keep an optic on them. The twins plus Bumblebee was something that Optimus knew he would never forget.

The past week had been one of the best in his life, yet it was also one of the saddest for he had known that this day was coming. He found himself, once again, getting ready to say goodbye to Bulkhead and Bumblebee.

All of them, including Ironhide and the Jet twins, were down at the Elite Guard outpost where the ships were.

"I guess we better get going," Ironhide sighed reluctantly.

"I forgot, what happened to the Decepticons again?" Bumblebee, who had been sound asleep when Ironhide told them, asked.

"They escaped on the way to Cybertron. They were last seen heading for the triple planetoids," Ironhide reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Well good luck."

"Thanks," Ironhide didn't think he'd ever get used to the fact that knew and actually tolerated two smugglers.

"By the way," Ironhide to look at the little bot perched on the massive green shoulder strut. "If I were you I'd start exploring in the Orion Galaxy. I hear they have some particularly vicious smugglers there."

Ironhide frowned then his optics brightened as comprehension dawned. "Thanks for the tip. Come on, twins, time to go."

A chorus of "Goodbye" and "Good luck" was exchanged as the three boarded _The Elite_ and soon disappeared from view.

"I guess you'll be leaving next?" Bulkhead questioned, trying (and failing miserably) to sound as if he didn't care either way.

"I don't have a ship anymore," Optimus said with a pointed glance at Bumblebee. _Omega Supreme_ had, unfortunately, suffered irrepairable damage both from the Decepticons crashing it and Bumblebee's great 'plan'.

Bulkhead winced. "Oh yeah that's right. I kinda forgot about that."

"I didn't," bumblebee announced proudly then hesitantly, "I happen to know a couple of smugglers could really use, oh I don't know, maybe three new partners?" he and Bulkhead looked hopefully at them.

"Well," Optimus said slowly. "I happen to know three ex-Elite Guard members who are looking for a highly illegal job that is very dangerous."

"Highly illegal," Prowl added.

Bumblebee grinned. "Well you certainly came to the right place. Although," he said thoughtfully "it's not usually this dangerous but it is highly illegal."

"You're right. It does sound like the perfect job for us."

"Well let's go," Bumblebee said excitedly. "Explosives are selling like crazy right now and I need some more. I used up most of them blowing up that stuck-up aft."

"Uh-oh," Bulkhead muttered. "We might need to stock up on some more paint and extra armor," he whispered loudly.

Bumblebee made a face at his friend who ignored him while Ratchet muttered, "Good thing we got plenty of room for it."

Optimus chuckled and looked around at the other four bots and decided that maybe being a smuggler wasn't so bad after all.

To be continued after…

I receive enough reviews of this chapter to make 100 reviews total on this story.

I take a day or two off to rest before I start on the next story.

Thanks everyone for reviewing and I'm glad that you liked my story.

Can't wait to hear from you real soon!

Sincerely,

Gage39


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